


Surpassing Time

by mapleday



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Demons, F/M, Fantasy, Inspired by InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Lemon, Reader-Insert, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:41:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 51,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24685528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mapleday/pseuds/mapleday
Summary: Kidnapped by the man haunting your dreams, you were ruthlessly thrust back in time about 500 years. There, you meet a girl from your era, Kagome, and her group of friends who are on a mission to collect the shards of the "Jewel of Four Souls" and protect it from evil. Unable to return to your time, you end up meeting a wolf demon named "Kouga", who promises to take care of you as a favor for Kagome. Eventually however, you develop deep-rooted feelings for this seemingly uncouth, yet gentle demon. Where will these newfound experiences lead you?
Relationships: Kouga (InuYasha)/Reader
Comments: 98
Kudos: 101
Collections: Anime, Best of Anime, Inuyasha, Inuyasha Fanfiction





	1. Troubling Forecast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today you plan to meet up with your friends from school: Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri. Much to your lack of enthusiasm however, your Dad makes you take your younger sister, Ami with too. While eating ice cream at WcDonald's, your friends learn of the bruises around your neck, and in anger and frustration, Ami flees the restaurant. In her pursuit, the weather suddenly takes a turn for the worse. Wasn't it supposed to be sunny today?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! mapleday here! Please enjoy this new Kouga x Reader fanfiction I'm starting to write. And let me know your thoughts at well, this is my first work after all! I will appreciate the feedback. This chapter is quite long, as it is just me setting the scene and letting you get to know your place in this world. Let me know whether you'd like longer or shorter chapters, I would be happy to oblige your requests! Thank you!!

**Chapter 1: Troubling Forecast**

Quiet, dark, and dreadful. That’s the best way I could think of to describe my late onslaught of nightmares. They started out mild at first, and then they slowly grew eerier and more mysterious. Within them I played the role of an observer, watching from the far corner of my bedroom in between my tall, marble-white door and the window. Across the room from me was my bed, decorated with blue comforters and white pillows; the wood carved from a red cherry oak. I still remembered as a child, begging my father to build that bed for me. I was completely enchanted by the wood’s crimson-like color.

As I watched over my room, I noticed the blankets on my mattress rising and falling in a slow, almost rhythmic pattern. It was me; I was laying in my bed slumbering. Only, I was actually standing in the corner of the room watching it all go down; I wasn’t _really_ in my body. An out of body experience perhaps? I’ve heard of those before.

When these dreams first began, I quickly discovered that in my role as an observer, I was neither able to move or speak freely. And not only that, unlike most dreams that seem to always end in the blink of an eye, this one would draw out for what seemed like hours. And not _dream_ hours, like _real_ hours. It was all too realistic; even the carpet beneath my feet felt dis-comfortingly genuine.

Anyways, as the dreams continued to reoccur, they also began to gradually change. Eventually, the walls of my room eroded away, and replaced with a thick, almost suffocating darkness that draped itself over the space like an iron veil. I could no longer see outside my windows; as both peered into a perpetual, deep, black abyss. Soon enough, the darkness had eaten the rest of my room away, only leaving myself and I. Well, my unconscious self and I.

After days of being consumed by utter blackness, I began to see an eerie man with long, wiry black hair visit me. He’d appear as if out of nowhere and stand over my comatose body. He never said anything, nor did anything. He simply watched and waited. _What are you waiting for?_ I’d often wondered. The bummer about being unable to speak in your dreams is: you can’t ask any questions.

Another few days passed before anything else eventful occurred within my dreams. And though I ended up finding it quite dull, I should’ve been thankful for it while it lasted. Because what happened next, still haunts me to this day. These events truly mortified me. One night, as I watched this stranger – who I learned has bright ruby red eyes – reach out towards my sleeping body and trace my exposed neck with his pale, thin fingers. Despite being outside of my body watching from a third person’s point of view, I could feel how cold and icy his hand was. I could feel an uneasy sensation spread from his unnaturally silky touch.

‘Stop that.’ I wanted to say so badly. ‘Stop that and get away from my body.’ But I couldn’t. I was filled with dread and fear, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move a muscle.

Suddenly and silently, the man turned and peered over his shoulder at me. And not the _sleeping_ me, the _me_ that was quietly observing from the corner of this cursed space. _He can see me?_ I thought. I’d assumed that I was practically invisible in this little world. I could feel a lump beginning to form in my throat, tension rushing through my nerves as he tracked me with his beady, red eyes. Then, my stomach dropped. The man leered evilly and turned back around.

Then without another warning or wasted movement, the man attacked my unconscious body. Using both of his hands, he wrapped his bony fingers about my neck and squeezed tight with a terrifyingly monstrous strength. Immediate pain overflowed through my senses. I couldn’t breathe. But, I also couldn’t scream. What should I do? What _can_ I do?

“Give it to me…” I heard him whisper deeply.

_Give what? What do you want?_ I wanted to scream.

Tears began pooling at the corners of my eyes, as I could do nothing but watch as the horrific scene unfolded before my eyes. I could feel his long nails prick the sides of my throat, and his hot breath against my skin as he sneered beneath the shadow covering his face. The tears soon began overflowing, pouring down my cheeks like boiling springs in the summertime. I could feel myself starting to get dizzy, growing unable to keep my eyes open for more than four or five seconds at a time. And yet, before he was able to whisk away the last heaving breath from my lungs, I felt a violent force shake me. And then I was awake, finally.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N!!)” I jumped up from my sheets to my little sister’s shrill, yet familiarly relieving voice. Sweat caked my face, practically searing the skin it streamed down. “Hey, (Y/N!)”

I wearily glanced at Ami, a distressed smile on my lips. “Y-Yeah? What’s up?”

She furrowed her eyebrows deeply and continued to lean forward, staring back at me for another few moments. But at last, she closed her eyes and sighed, drawing her body back from mine as she made herself comfortable on the edge of my bed. “Geez… You gave me a heart attack!”

I could feel my facial features twist with confusion. “What do you mean?” I blinked a couple of times.

“Well for one, you were thrashing around like crazy!” She waved her arms in the air as if to reenact it. “I thought you were having a seizure or something!” She heaved a big sigh. “Thank God you weren’t…”

“Oh…” I was a little startled by my sister’s story. Thrashing? Me? I was normally a pretty sound sleeper.

I thought back to the nightmare; maybe I was thrashing because of that? I couldn’t erase from my mind the stranger’s joyful smile as he attempted to strangle the life out of me. It made me shiver just to think about it. Who could be that evil? Who could _laugh_ as they take away the life of another? I shook my head. It was just a dream, no point in thinking about it too much.

I heard my sister utter a gasp. When I looked down at her, she was looking at me, hand cupping her mouth in shock. I frowned. “What now?”

“Your neck…” A shiver ran up my spine as she answered me. “It’s bruised all the way around… What did you do?”

I reached up and touched the left side of my neck, flinching as a sharp pain shot up through the muscles. I pulled my blankets off and walked over to my mirror, as Ami watched me. I turned my head to the left, tucked my hair behind my ears, and pulled my collar down a little to get a better look at the bruises. Purple splotches of skin encircled my neck, some areas darker than others. It felt sore, like I’d slept on it wrong for days.

“So?” I heard Ami say. “What did you _do_?”

I straightened up and rested my hand on the back of my neck as I thought. Ami may be snarky, bossy, and rude sometimes, but I also knew that as her sister she cared a great deal for me. Even if she didn’t always say it. I turned to her and laughed it off. “Oh, you know me.” I scratched my head in embarrassment. “I probably fell asleep with my earbuds in and got them wrapped around my neck while I rolled around.”

She studied me in silence for a few moments, probably pondering what the best sarcastic response might be. She came to a conclusion and groaned. “Of course it is, you’re the only person in the world dumb enough to do that.” She shook her head and shrugged.

I could feel my eyebrow twitch in irritation, but I withheld my comments. At least she wasn’t going to ask me anymore questions.

“Anyways,” She began. “Dad sent me up here to get you, breakfast is almost done.”

I nodded. “Alright, I’ll be down in a bit.” Ami briskly hurried back downstairs. The aroma of Dad’s food told me it was waffles: her favorite.

I waited until she was out of sight, and then I leaned in towards the mirror and looked over the bruises one more time. Ami may have fell for it, but that’s because she’s little and doesn’t know much better. However, there’s no way a pair of earbud’s wires could have created bruising that extensive and harsh. I sighed.

“What do you do, I guess… Maybe it’s just one of those freak things.” I said quietly to myself.

I tried to brush it off, but the nightmare I dreamt about still bothered me. _Is it just a coincidence that these bruises are on my neck?_ I couldn’t help but wonder.

Finally, I decided to try and avoid thinking about it for the day. I opened my curtains as a rush of light and warmth streamed into my room, shimmering like gold. “Looks like it’s gonna be an awesome day.” Beautiful days like these were my favorites; I highly preferred the sunny, peaceful, warm days over the rainy and windy ones.

Before getting dressed, I grabbed the silver chained necklace I inherited from my mother. It had a shard of a beautiful, luminescent jewel hooked to the end of it. It wasn’t long before she passed that she’d given it to me. It was almost like she knew her time was almost up. I smiled in remembrance of the fond memories I shared with her; in life, she was surely one of my best friends.

After snapping the necklace in place, I slipped on an off-pinkish blouse with white laced designs, matching it with denim shorts that rose a little above mid-thigh. I brushed my hair and tied it to the right with a red scrunchie, and then added the finishing touches to my bangs, brushing them off to the side.

“(Y/N)! Hurry up!!” I heard Ami shout.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” I briskly replied. I was about to turn and leave before I glimpsed the sight of the bruises in the mirror as I passed it. I reached up and touched them gingerly. _I don’t want to worry Dad._ And with that thought, I grabbed a roll of gauze from my desk drawer and wrapped it lightly around my neck. It’s always handy to keep first aid lying around.

Once I’d made sure the bruises were completely concealed, I jogged downstairs and into the dining room where my Dad and little sister were waiting. “Good morning, Dad.” I greeted.

“Good morning, sweetie-,” He paused, noticing the gauze around my neck. He wore a baffled expression. “What’s that for? Did you hurt yourself?”

I could feel Ami’s hard gaze. “Yeah!” I knew I couldn’t bluff and say I’d scratched myself; Ami already knew they were bruises. “Just bruised myself a little, nothing bad. I wrapped it for comfort.”

“Hmm.” He looked suspicious, but moments later he shrugged. “As long as it’s nothing serious.” I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

I walked over to the counter and dished up, adding butter and syrup to my waffles accordingly. As soon as I sat down, Ami began with the barrage of questions.

“Why’d you get so dressed up today? Are you going somewhere?” But before I could respond, Dad answered in my stead.

“(Y/N) is meeting with her friends today, remember?” He smiled. “They have exams coming up, so they’re going to study together.”

“Really? Then take me with!” Ami was always searching for excuses to hang out with older crowds. Sometimes, I feared that that might be what gets her into trouble. She should really stick with kids her own age.

“We’ll be studying, not playing.” I took a bite of waffle and pointed my fork at her accusingly. “If I take you, I won’t be able to focus! I don’t want to have to worry about babysitting while I’m trying to work.”

Ami’s face twisted with irritation. “I-I’m not a little kid anymore, you won’t need to!”

“Says who? You’re still nine.” I remarked.

Ami was quiet for a few moments, but soon I heard the sound of silent sobs and hiccups coming from her direction. I glanced up and saw tears welling up in her eyes, as a twinge of guilt hit me right in the gut.

“(Y/N) …” I could feel Dad looking at me.

“Wh-What?” I stuttered. “I just told her the truth.” I avoided making eye contact with my father, his puppy-look always made me feel bad. So, in an attempt to keep myself from having to say anymore, I carried on stuffing my face with waffle.

“It couldn’t hurt for a few hours, right?” Dad said cheerfully.

“Dad!” I protested sourly.

“Aren’t you and your friends heading somewhere to eat before you study?” He stood from his seat and walked his empty plate over to the sink. “Just take Ami along for that, then when your friends and you are ready to study, give me a call and I can come pick her up.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wad of cash. “Here, I’ll even give you some money to pay for her food.” He smiled.

“Ugh…” I grumbled in protest. I knew I couldn't say no to Dad.

He always worked tirelessly for both Ami and I. Even going so far as working nights at his job after he’d already worked all day. In fact, it was rare our family got to sit down and eat together like this. Which meant that Dad must’ve had a good night’s rest.

“Fine.” I grunted. “But that means you have to go get ready now, alright?” I glared at Ami. “I’m leaving in ten minutes!”

Ami needed no further coaxing. She immediately jumped down from her seat at the table and jogged to her room to get ready, wiping away the remaining tears from her eyes.

Dad sat back down on the chair beside me. “Thank you, (Y/N).”

I remained quiet, feigning grumpiness, and continued to munch down on my waffles. I hated this prideful side of me.

“Y’know,” My father piped up again. “Ami really seems to enjoy hanging out with you. I think she admires her older sister.”

“If she admires me so much, why doesn’t she listen to me more often?” I huffed.

Dad chuckled. “Well, if you think about it, she’s quite independent and bold just like the person she admires. In my eyes she’s simply mimicking you.”

I almost choked on my waffles. I got distracted and tried to eat too much at once. “Dad!” I said, a little flustered.

He simply smiled. Dad really did seem happy today, that made me glad.

“I’m ready!” I glanced over towards Ami, all dressed up in a yellow t-shirt and shorts.

Resting on her head was a small, beige, safari cap with a string tied a little beneath her chin. It was worn from years of use; it used to be mine back when I was her age. Then, once she was born, I bequeathed it to her somewhat as a gift from an excited older sister to her new, younger one. Seeing her wear it made me feel a bit nostalgic.

“Alright then, let’s go.” I pushed my chair out and picked up my plate.

“Ah, not yet!” Dad also jumped from his seat and quickly hustled over to the small closet in the hallway.

He opened it carefully and started rummaging through its contents, moving things over this way and that in an attempt to find whatever he was searching for. “Here it is!” Proudly, he pulled a bottle of unused sunscreen from the closet, showing it to Ami and I.

“Oh, thanks. Good idea, Dad.” I said as I set my dish and Ami’s in the sink.

“Of course!” He glowed. “It’s only gonna get hotter so you’d better protect your guys’ skin!” Ami’s eyes almost glimmered with awe at her father’s suggestion.

Dad squirted some onto Ami’s hands for her to rub herself down with. Then, he handed the bottle to me. “Make sure to get your face too.” He reminded me. “I remember you used to be so bad about that.” He laughed and scratched his head.

I shook my head, and slathered my limbs and chest with the sunscreen, as well as dabbed some spots here and there across my cheeks and forehead. “Okay, we’re taking off now, Dad. I’ll talk to you later!” I yelled as I walked Ami and I out the front door.

“Yes, have a safe trip!” He smiled and waved. “Make sure to text me when you get there!”

I simply threw him a thumbs up, I’m sure it would all be fine. I was sure.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

At last, we’d arrived at WcDonald’s. Off in the distance I could see my friends approaching us: Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi. It felt like forever since I’d last seen them a couple days ago.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Yuka called. As she got closer, she noticed Ami standing behind me. “Oh, who’s this? Your little sister?”

Ayumi bent down to Ami’s level and beamed her an angelic smile. “Aw, you’re so cute!”

I could feel Ami grip my shirt and move further behind me. When I casted her a look, I saw her face was pressed with uncertainty; she was being shy. _What a bother…_ I thought. “Don’t be rude now, Ami,” I told her. “Say hi and introduce yourself.”

She continued to remain silent, doubtfully staring up at my three friends. “ _Ami_.” I was about to chastise her again, before Ayumi stopped me.

“It’s alright, (Y/N).” She said, standing back up and waving her hand dismissively. “I’m sure she’ll open up a little in time!” Ayumi was always the understanding type – a trait I constantly admired her for.

“Alright, I’m sorry about that.” I apologized for Ami. “She can be a little shy around strangers!”

“Alright guys, are we all ready to go in? I’m getting hungry.” Eri suggested from the back of the group.

Yuka cackled. “Didn’t you just eat breakfast? We’re only going in for ice-cream you know.”

“Well, yeah — but I’m a growing girl!” Eri’s face flushed red.

And then, we all erupted into laughter when Eri’s stomach growled like a little beast.

Once we’d gotten in and found a table to sit at, I introduced all of them to Ami, and Ami to them.

“Wow, I never knew you had a little sister!” Ami seemed to shrink a little behind her bowl of chocolate ice-cream with sprinkles. She wasn’t used to all this attention due to her awful habit of scaring other people away with her attitude. However, she wouldn’t be able to hide from Ayumi.

“Yeah,” I began. “I suppose I haven’t gotten the chance to mention her to you guys yet.”

“Well I’m happy you have now!” Ayumi commented cheerfully.

“Y’know,” Yuka took a small bite of her sundae. “We have a friend with a little brother around your age. I bet you guys would get along great!”

“Speaking of Kagome, where is she today? I thought we invited her.” Eri asked in between bites.

Yuka shrugged and gave an awkward smile. “Well, I did invite her, but early this morning her grandpa called and said she has Lyme Disease!” She heaved a sigh.

“Really?” Eri replied. “Wasn’t she still trying to get over her hip replacement surgery? Poor Kagome!”

“Yeah!” Ayumi jumped in. “And she just recently got over her cold too!”

I sat back and listened to them talk. _Well at least one of those sounds normal…_ I thought. I hadn’t yet met Kagome; I’d only just recently began attending their school as a freshman. However, I definitely heard enough about her from Yuka, Eri and Ayumi to feel like I’d known her for years. They seemed to adore their dear friend. Even without meeting her, I could tell she was kindhearted and cherished; her friends were always worrying about her.

“So (Y/N),” I perked up a little bit at the sound of my name. “I’ve been wondering about this since we got here but…” Eri pointed up towards my neck. “What’s with those bandages you got on?”

I set my ice-cream down to answer. “Well...”

“She’s got some pretty ugly bruises under there.” Out of all the times Ami chose to speak, it had to be to sell me out.

“Ami!” I scolded. I looked back over toward my friends. “I’m so sorry,” I smiled. “She says the most sudden things sometimes!”

When the table remained silent, I nervously blinked a few times.

“(Y/N) …” Yuka spoke with a hushed and worried tone of voice; she would make a great mom someday. “Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe you should get something like that checked out.”

I shook my head and feigned a heartfelt smile. “No, I’m alright guys, honest! Just one of those weird things, I have no clue how I got it! And it doesn’t hardly hurt anyways.”

Then, without a single warning Eri and Yuka stood up, walked over to me, took me by my arms, and marched me into the nearest ladies’ restroom, Ayumi and Ami trailing not far behind.

“Wait, guys—!” I protested as they began reaching for the gauze on my neck.

“No waiting, missy!” Eri reprimanded. “Knowing you, you’d probably feign comfort until it gets worse, and then have to get help!”

“Yeah, she’s right (Y/N).” Yuka added. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard!”

After a couple more moments of fighting with them to get the gauze off, I conceded. “Alright, alright! I’ll take it off, but it’s nothing bad at all. It just doesn’t look good.”

And slowly but surely, I peeled the gauze taped around my neck away and exposed my purple neck for my friends to see. Immediately, their faces grew pale. Ayumi cupped her mouth with her hand to prevent any audible gasp from escaping.

“Honestly, guys, I can barely feel it! I’m perfectly fine.” I pleaded with them.

“Geez, (Y/N).” Yuka started. “What did you do to warrant something _that_ bad?”

I sighed and suggested it was probably just one of those things you couldn’t explain, but they refused to buy that. So, after minutes of arguing over the cause, and whether or not I should take a trip to the hospital, I finally decided to tell them about my nightmare from earlier this morning. They were all silent as I explained the prior dreams up until now, how it all started mild and then gradually grew worse.

“How scary.” Ayumi commented.

“You’re telling me.” I half-joked. I noticed behind my friends that Ami was scowling, crossing her arms grumpily. “Ami,” She didn’t seem like her usual self. Had all this upset her, maybe? “Are you okay?”

My friends turned to look down at Ami. “You,” Ami began to reply with a trembling voice. “You lied to Dad!” I was a little taken aback. In fact, everyone was a bit. “You told Dad it was nothing. But all your friends say it’s not! Why did you lie to Dad?”

Now her hands were at her sides, balled up into fists and trembling. Guilt rained down on me like a storm. It’s true, I did lie to Dad about how bad it actually was, and I lied about it not bothering me. In truth, it hurt so much worse than I was letting on. But I didn’t want to worry anyone, especially not Dad. I didn’t want it to amount any medical bills when he worked so hard just to pay for the house and keep us fed. Of course, though, I didn’t believe Ami would understand something like that. To her, I simply fibbed to father and that was against the moral rules. In her eyes, I’ve broken Dad’s trust.

“Ami, please try to understand,” I wanted to reason with her; I didn’t want her to grow mad at me because of something like this.

“No! You lied to Dad and I won’t forgive you!!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. And with that she fled the bathroom.

“Ami, wait!” I called out to her, but to no avail. As I swiftly re-wrapped the bandages, I quickly moved past my friends and out the bathroom door just in time to see Ami escape through the front of the café. “Am—!” I tried calling to her again, but the deafening roar of thunder violently interrupted me. _And I thought today was gonna be nice._ I thought sarcastically.

“(Y/N), wait!” Eri exclaimed.

“Sorry guys, I think I’ll have to pass on our study date today. I’ll talk to you later!” And with that I was out the doors and gone, running down the streets in pursuit of my little sister.

Rain began falling hard against the pavement as I ran, eventually soaking me all the way down to my undergarments. I stopped at an intersection and peered around, glimpsing the sight of Ami’s little head bobbing beneath the crowds on the sidewalks. I briskly crossed the road as fast as I could manage, narrowly dodging other people and traffic along the way.

Nasty comments like ‘Watch where you’re going!’ and ‘Crazy lady!’ naturally followed in my pursuit. Nevertheless, I tried my best to ignore them, as I gradually and finally caught up to Ami, grabbing her quickly by the arm to prevent her from running any further.

As my hand made contact with her wrist, another strike of thunder screeched across the sky, and in that very moment I felt the shard around my neck pulse.

Like a heartbeat.


	2. Spirited Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're captured by an evil man named Naraku who seems to want to take the jewel shard tied around your neck. However, before he is able to do anything you release an immense power much to your surprise and his. Inuyasha and his companion arrive in pursuit of Naraku, to which he takes you and flees. What will become of this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Second chapter of "Surpassing Time" is here, and things are finally starting to heat up! This chapter is much shorter than the last (about 2,000 words shorter) so let me know if you'd like shorter chapters like this or longer ones. Either way I will continue to enjoy writing this! Thank you for your support and the one kudos from a guest so far! It means the world to me. Thanks!!

**Chapter 2: Spirited Away**

Our clothes were drenched from the pouring rain, sticking to our skin like glue to paper. The moistness of the fabric was making me cringe; one thing I hated more than rainy days was getting soaked by them.

Before I managed to catch Ami, I felt the little shard around my neck pulse as if it had a heartbeat. That was ludicrous of course, that could never happen; it was just some shiny rock. But even though I told myself that, the thought still perplexed me.

“Let me go!” Ami bellowed. She was struggling against me to stay still, hitting my arm in an attempt to force me to release her. “You’re a liar, I hate liars!”

“Ami please, calm down!” I implored. “We can talk about this more when we get home, so please, stop running away!”

_CRASH!_ Another boom of thunder cut through the air with astonishing power and volume. The roar of the strike startled Ami, causing her to jump and fall backwards on her bum. Her little safari hat too, managed to slip off and drift into a nearby puddle. She lay frozen for a moment with her eyes shut tightly, still registering the pain from falling on her tail bone.

“Ami, are you alright?” I reached out with an open hand to help her up.

After gathering her wits, she slowly opened one eye and gazed up at me. Only, as soon as she looked up, the expression her delicate features shifted to wasn’t one of pain or frustration anymore, no. Ami looked fearful. And I soon realized it wasn’t me she was looking at either; she was looking straight past, and behind me.

“(Y/N)-(Y/N)—!” She stuttered. Her voice was laced with terror.

Without noticing, I too began to tremble slightly. _Someone’s behind me… Who?_

I looked ahead of me and side to side, there wasn’t one person in sight. As if they all had disappeared at once. Just moments before, the sidewalks and restaurants were bustling with crowds of people, and now the place was practically a ghost town.

Ami suddenly shrieked and pushed herself backwards as I felt a heavy hand fall on my right shoulder. “Ami, go!” I managed to get out before whoever was behind me roughly pulled me around to face them. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew we were in danger. It’s like something in the air was off, like it was telling me there was something evil nearby.

As Ami quickly snatched up her hat and fled, I gazed up and into the bloody-red eyes of my captor. I became frozen with horror as I realized just _who_ had caught me. “No… Way…” I breathed.

Before me stood the man who frequently haunted my head, torturing me night after night within the confines of my nightmares. He was beautiful, with long eyelashes, and lavender eye shadow lining his eyelids; and his long, ebony hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, leaving his bangs to part in the middle and rest across his forehead. The man’s skin was pale and colder than death, his touch chilling me to the very bone.

Without thinking I took his arm and pushed it away. “L-Let go of me.” _What am I doing? Am I insane?_ I thought to myself. Panic and fright were coursing through my veins, what the hell was compelling me to act so rashly?

His expression was devoid of any easily defined emotion, his eyes seemed empty and he neither smiled nor frowned. However, when I physically shoved him away, I could see the very slightest inkling of irritation cross his handsome features.

“I need something you have.” He spoke rather coarsely. “Give it to me.” He began to slowly reach out towards my throat.

I was immediately thrusted back into the memory of him strangling me. His cold fingers, his ruthless touch, and that joyful grin he wore as he killed me. My knees turned to jelly, and I instantly crumpled to the ground. “STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK!” I shut my eyes tightly and screamed as loud as I possibly could.

Suddenly, a burst of light appeared and seemed to envelope everything around me. And then it seemed to vanish just as quickly as it came. When I opened my eyes and looked up towards the strange man, I noticed smoke rising from the palm of his hand. It was badly burnt, reddened, and blistered from what I assumed was the flash of light before.

This time, I could make out the shock registered upon the man’s face, as he examined his hand in slight disbelief. Then for the first time, I saw him frown. _I really screwed up this time._ I thought.

“I don’t have time for this.” He said in a vexed tone of voice.

He grabbed me roughly by the forearm and forced me to stand. “Wh-What are you doing? Let go!” I protested.

He began to turn but stilled once the rough and growly voice of another could be heard behind us in the distance. “Naraku, damn you!” It barked.

I flinched at the harsh timbre in his voice and peeked over my shoulder to identify who it was. To my disbelief, a man clothed in bright red, ancient garments with long silver hair bounded towards us with amazing speed and versatility. When he landed about 50 yards away, I was able to make out a few more odd features as well. On top of his head rested a pair of fuzzy, white ears, similar to that of a dog’s, and as he growled, I could spot sharp canines protruding from beneath his lip. His eyes glistened with a golden hue, glimmering with hatred.

_What on earth…_ I wondered.

Before I could finish my thought, I saw a young girl climb down from the boy’s back, dressed in the same kind of uniform that my school used. Her hair was long and raven-black, with low bangs and locks tucked behind her ears. Slung over her right shoulder was a red bow, along with a quiver of a dozen arrows or so.

I heard the man next to me scoff. When I looked back toward him, I noticed a grimace light up his face. “Hmph.” He said amusingly. Even his smile made me shiver.

The man with long, silver hair glanced at me. “So now you’re resorting to kidnapping helpless women, Naraku?” He sneered. “I didn’t peg you for the desperate type.”

_Naraku… So that’s his name._

“Unfortunately, I don’t have time to play.” Naraku’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, right.” The silver-haired guy growled. “Well too bad, you’re just gonna have to _make_ time!” He unsheathed the sword hanging at his hip, and in a flurry of sparks and light, a much larger sword appeared with fur dressing the hilt. The blade held a likeness to that of a large fang.

“Inuyasha, no!” The young girl at his side exclaimed. “You’ll hit her too, if you attack now!”

Inuyasha snarled but listened. “Quit being a coward and face me head-on, Naraku!”

Naraku chuckled. And then, without another word, he gripped my forearm tightly and yanked me up as he flew from the ground in one frighteningly powerful leap. The jump was so sudden and harsh, I thought he was going to rip my shoulder straight out of its socket. I yelped in pain.

After a single leap, I suppose Naraku thought it was too difficult or tedious to continue dragging and flailing me by my arm, so he heaved me up onto his chest and halfway over his shoulder. In this position, I could see the girl and boy in red clothes from before trailing after us with appalling speed.

_What the hell is going on? This is either some extreme cosplay and role-playing or I’m in another nightmare!_ From what I could gather in their previous conversation, it sounded like Inuyasha and that girl were after Naraku, the man who captured me. What could this guy have possibly wanted from me though?

I thought back to when he reached for my neck; maybe he wasn’t trying to hurt me? My heart skipped a beat as I remembered, the times I’d felt the jewel on my necklace pulse. _Does that have something to do with this mess?_ I thought about handing it over to him, then I could go back to Ami; I’d be safe. _But would I?_ Though this was my first time meeting him, I somewhat doubted Naraku was the merciful type. I touched my necklace gingerly and thought about Mom.

_I can’t give this to him. It’s all I have left now._

I turned and scowled at my captor, then with swiftness and precision I raised my elbow up and jabbed it as hard as I could into his back. “Let me down right now!” I yelled.

He barely flinched at the lack of brawn I held in my hits; he clearly couldn’t care less about my resistance. Soon we were flying over a shrine; at the peak of the steps leading up to it, a large crimson torii stood like a guardian watching over it all. Naraku finally landed in front of the shrine’s well house, decorated with shimenawa, and built from aged wood.

“Don’t tell me…” I whispered to myself. From the stories I’ve heard from my three friends, there was only one shrine in the area we lived. And that was the Higurashi shrine, the shrine where their friend Kagome lived.

Naraku dropped me on my bum, but continued holding tight onto my arm. When I found my balance and stood up, I glared nervously at him and spoke curtly. “Who the hell _are_ you?”

Naraku wasn’t paying me any mind, his attention was drawn toward Inuyasha and his companion, as they were still bounding toward us, but unfortunately still a little ways away. “Hey!” I persisted.

“Silence.” He commanded. He began walking up the steps to the well house, with me in tow. I tried resisting, but fighting his strength while walking up a stairwell only left me with hard falls and skinned knees. He might as well have just dragged me up the stairs.

Naraku threw the sliding door open and proceeded to walk inside and back down a few steps, until we were standing before a large well. “Get in.” He said.

I froze. What could this guy have been thinking? He wanted me to get _in_? He pushed me towards the edge of the well crudely, waiting expectantly.

“N-No.” I treaded a step backward and turned around to look at him.

He gave me a cold, silent look for a few moments more before taking my chin between his icy fingertips and brutishly holding it up to meet his gaze. “You’re already testing my patience as it is.” His ruby red eyes shone brightly despite the darkness in the building. “I would not push your luck much farther.”

Before I could respond, Inuyasha’s gruff voice sounded from outside. “Naraku!” He bellowed.

A large crash resounded all around, as something big collided with the roof and caused it to begin rapidly caving in. Undeterred, Naraku freed me, turned around and then in a single motion used his left hand to thrust me backwards and send me plummeting down into the well headfirst. Right before the well swallowed me whole, I glimpsed the sight of Inuyasha’s monstrous sword tearing Naraku in half. I felt like I was gonna hurl.

The gravitational pull of the well’s bottom made me feel faint, and before I completely slipped away into the ethereal darkness of my head, I folded my hands together and prayed. I prayed that I might be spared, that Ami would be found and kept safe, and most of all: that all this would be nothing more than a horrible dream. And with that, my consciousness faded.


	3. Where am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After your dangerous encounter, you wake up in a strange place that you don't recognize. The houses were different, the clothes were different, and absolutely nothing was the same! How will you cope with this change?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for tuning into a new chapter! Please feel free to leave comments and let me know how I'm doing, I will appreciate all of them.

**Chapter 3: Where am I?**

“How is she doing, Kaede?” I could hear a vaguely familiar voice speaking somewhere above me.

“Her color is coming back, and she isn’t running any fever so I’m sure she’ll pull through just fine.” A much older woman spoke then; and despite sounding brittle, held a very gentle tone of voice.

“I don’t see why you guys gotta make such a big deal out of this!” A harsh voice barked. I knew this specifically gruff way of speaking, though I hadn’t known him for very long; his voice had a very unique inflection. It was the boy named Inuyasha. “We got more important things to deal with like finding the jewel shards! Just leave her with Kaede, she’ll be fine.”

“Inuyasha, how could you—!” The girl snapped at him. “She was suddenly kidnapped by Naraku, thrown down a well, and when she wakes up, she’ll be even more confused and frightened than she was!” I could feel the floorboards I laid on shake slightly as she stood up.

Through the exhaustion, I forced my eyelids open. They fluttered at first, the strong daylight flooding into the small room was a little too much for my fresh irises to take at first.

“Ah, she’s waking up.” The elderly woman noted.

Eventually I was able to fully open my eyes. Balling a fist, I rubbed at one for a moment, attempting to brush away any remaining lethargy. “Where… Where am I?” I asked. My gaze was a little blurry at first, but soon it came into focus, and I was able to look around a little bit better.

To my left was an elderly woman with long grey hair tied back in a loose ponytail; she wore an eyepatch over her right eye and was clothed in a white kosobe and a red hakama. To my other side, I saw the young girl I’d seen from earlier, dressed in clothes similar to the uniform worn at my school. Next to her, standing in the doorway, Inuyasha was leaning up against the frame, crossing his arms grumpily. The bright rays of sunlight speckled his clothes and hair, giving it a pretty amber glow.

The young girl kneeled down next to me; eyebrows drawn in worry. “Hi there, are you alright? Don’t try getting up too quickly.”

_Who are these people?_ I wondered.

I pushed myself up from the blankets I laid on, wincing a little as I felt a sharp pain stab at my left arm, right below my shoulder. Instinctively, I grabbed and held onto it with my opposite hand. When I looked over and examined it, I noticed it was thoroughly wrapped with bandages; _What? How did I…?_

And then suddenly I remembered; being taken by Naraku, being pursued by the girl and Inuyasha, and falling down a well as the wellhouse around it collapsed. _I must’ve gotten hurt when Naraku was dragging me around. Or maybe I landed on it wrong when I hit the bottom of that well?_ Had any of that even been real? It certainly didn’t feel like it.

“You must feel horrible, why don’t you try resting a little more? You haven’t been out for very long.” The young girl suggested. I looked her up and down; why was she dressed so differently compared to the other two? She had large, chestnut eyes and locks of long, black hair cascading down her back.

“I’m sorry but,” I began. “Who exactly are you…?”

“Oh!” She clasped her hands together in sudden realization. “I’m so sorry, I almost forgot to introduce myself! My name is Kagome, Kagome Higurashi. And this is Kaede,” She motioned to the elderly woman on my left. “She’s been helping me take care of you. And then the rude guy behind me is Inuyasha!” Inuyasha scowled.

“Kagome…” _This girl can’t possibly be who I think she is, right?_ “Are you… Are you friends with Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri?”

She blinked a few times in surprise. “Yeah, I am actually, how’d you know that though?”

_No way…_ All the stories I’ve heard of her being sick weren’t making any sense now. The hip surgery, lime disease, even the cold she supposedly had! This girl couldn’t have been ill with any of those things, she looked way too healthy. However, she _did_ wear my school’s uniform, and she resembled the descriptions I’ve been given by her friends in the past.

“Gosh…” I rubbed a few fingers on my temples and shook my head. “This is all one crazy dream.”

“Huh?” Kagome said, bewildered. Even Inuyasha and Kaede looked a little puzzled.

“I mean,” I looked up at her and forced a small chuckle. “I probably fell when I was chasing after Ami, right? Knocked myself out somehow – And now I’m dreaming! I’ve been having so many weird dreams lately, this must be another one of them!”

Kagome and Kaede exchanged worried looks. “What a looney case.” Inuyasha scoffed.

He quickly stomped over to my side, and once he was next to me, he knelt down and grabbed my arm. The bandaged one, nonetheless. When he squeezed it, I could feel pain like needles dancing all up and along my forearm. “Ouch, stop!” I yelled.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He released me and stood up.

“Inuyasha, what the heck was that for?” Kagome reprimanded.

“If it was a dream you wouldn’t be able to feel pain, right?” He put his hands on his hips and turned his head away smugly. “I’m just provin’ a point.”

I stared hard at Inuyasha for a few long moments. _He’s right._ I thought. _If this were really a dream, I wouldn’t have felt that._ I glanced down toward the blankets and cupped my arm gingerly against my side.

“Then, what is all this?” I said shakily. I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute; if I didn’t get an answer soon, I felt like I might have a coronary. “This can’t be real, I mean,” I looked up at Inuyasha again. “What about your ears! They can’t be real, right?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, seeming a little annoyed. “Well sorry to break it to you, but they don’t come off or anything.”

My eyes widened a little in shock, then I quickly averted them from Inuyasha’s. _But that’s impossible, how could—_ I jumped a little when I felt Kagome’s hand touch my back and start massaging it in an effort to help me relax.

“I know there’s a lot to take in right now, so why don’t you try laying down a while longer? I’d be happy to explain things to you when you’re awake.” Kagome cooed.

I cast her a sideways look, she seemed genuinely concerned for my wellbeing. I pondered my options for a minute and then nodded when I realized I didn’t have very many to choose from. What else was I to do?

Kagome flashed me a reassuring smile as she pulled the blanket over me after I laid back down. “We’ll leave you be for now, but don’t hesitate to call for us if you need anything.”

With that Kaede, Kagome, and Inuyasha all left; I was finally alone. Examining the room around me, there was an older-looking stone stove in the far corner against the same wall that the door was built into, and in the middle of the room where the floorboards met to create a fire pit, two stakes rose out of the ground to hold a big iron pot up above the pile of ash and wood.

_What’s with all this old-fashioned stuff?_ I decided to roll over and try not to think about it, but that was hard not to do. Instead of sleeping, I ended up laying on my side for a couple hours trying to come up with reasons why and how everything happened. Was it magic — did magic really exist? I didn’t know how else to explain Inuyasha’s sword or their ability to run so fast and leap so powerfully. And then there was their attire, it was the kind of clothing you’d see in textbooks when studying the warring states period. Did I get caught up in a reenactment? No, Inuyasha said his ears were real, meaning whatever I got caught in the middle of wasn’t any con or cosplaying get-together.

Eventually, I decided to get up and leave the building, seeing as I wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep. Pushing aside the curtain hanging in the doorway, I walked outside and looked around. As far as I could see I was surrounded by forests, mountains, and valleys; the view was utterly breathtaking. Where in the world could I have been? If I had to guess, it looked like I was in a small village, and quite a remote one at that. Everyone was dressed in traditional clothing, and there wasn’t a single modern appliance in sight.

“You’re awake!” I heard a cute, little boy’s voice call cheerfully. I turned around to try and pinpoint the source, but everyone around me either minded their own business or hurried past me while trying to avoid making eye contact – so much for a warm welcome. The owner of this voice must’ve noticed my confusion. “Down here!” He hinted.

When I looked down, I saw a little boy; he didn’t look like he could be more than two years old. And even so he had a full head of hair, long enough to be pulled back into a messy, red ponytail. He carried a bucket of water, almost as big as himself. Upon further inspection, I noticed a large plume of blonde fur sprouting beneath his back, like a tail; and looking down at his feet I noticed he wasn’t wearing shoes. In fact, he didn’t even have normal feet! He looked like he had the legs and paws of a small animal – like a cat, or a fox.

Startled, I yelled and jumped back, accidentally tripping over a stray rock, causing me to land hard on my rear. My slight outburst seemed to surprise the little boy as well. “Woah, calm down!” He shouted.

“Shippo, what’s going on?” I heard a rapid flurry of steps rush toward us.

When I glanced over my shoulder toward the approaching footfalls, I could make out the silhouette of a young man – but it wasn’t Inuyasha. This man had a much more tender-sounding voice, and he was clothed in a purple kesa and a dark blue koromo; he looked a lot like ancient monks did, minus the shaved head. He had sparse bangs and his dark hair was tied back into a short ponytail. His right hand was wrapped in some sort of glove and wrapped around his glove were prayer beads. In the same hand he held a tall golden staff; at the top, it morphed into a circle with other golden bracelet-like things dangling off of it. It jingled as he walked.

“Ah, are you alright?” This time he was referring to me. He offered a hand to help me up.

“Y-Yes, I am.” I took his hand and heaved myself up.

“What’s going on here, Shippo?”

“How should I know?” He shrugged. “As soon as she saw me, she freaked out!”

He giggled. “So, our little friend here spooked you, did he?” He got a little closer to me, maybe a tad closer than I would’ve liked. “Well you needn’t fear, he’s quite harmless and would sooner help you than hurt you. But if you’re still unsure,” He took my hands in his own. Now I _really_ felt uncomfortable. “I would not be opposed to comforting you.”

And with that, a bone-crushing, blunt force was brought down atop his head. It about caused my heart to jump out of my chest. “Damn lecher!” I heard a feminine voice grumble.

“O-Ouch… Did you have to do that so hard, Sango…?” Miroku muttered, slowly crumpling beneath the weight of the large object.

“Serves you right Miroku!” The little boy bounded up and onto the woman’s shoulders. “Learn to treat ladies with more respect, then you might be able to catch one!”

Lifting the large boomerang-like weapon off of his head, the woman glanced at me and smiled. “You must be the person Inuyasha and Kagome brought back with them, right? It’s nice to meet you.” She sounded surprisingly mature; her voice wove together like silk. “My name is Sango, the little fox demon over behind you is Shippo, and this unorthodox monk here is Miroku.” She introduced the man with a slight shred of annoyance in her voice.

_A fox demon…? And a monk?_ _I’m definitely not where I’m supposed to be._ I thought.

Yet despite her amazing strength and wrath, she seemed quite kind and beautiful as well. Her bangs parted in the middle, giving way to low-cut, fine strands all cross her forehead. Her hair was very loosely tied back into what looked similar to a ponytail, but not really the same style; nevertheless, it suited her well. Her eyelashes were thick, and her eyelids were painted with a charming pink shade of eyeshadow. She was dressed in light and dark hues of magenta garments, with a green skirt tied about her waist. Slung across her chest and over her back was a humongous boomerang-looking weapon and considering how powerfully and heavily it came down on the monk’s head, I would guess it wasn’t too easy for just anyone to pack it around.

“And you?” I almost jumped when she spoke, I was so caught up in looking her over that I forgot she was talking to me. “What’s your name?”

“Ah,” I tried to quickly gather my thoughts. “My name is (Y/N). Pleased to meet you.” I gave a curt bow.

“You must be all out of sorts, waking up in a new place and all.” Sango commented. I answered with a short nod of my head.

She smiled. “Well then, let’s take you to where everyone else is. I’m sure we can answer your questions.” Sango then spun around and started off in the opposite direction.

Miroku stumbled to his feet, rubbing the lump on his head, and followed after Sango and Shippo. I took a deep breath, and then I also trailed after them.

It took a few minutes to get to wherever we were headed; I got to see a lot of the village on the way. The houses – or huts I suppose is a better word for it – were all built in a very similar fashion. Made out of the same wood, the same kind of supports, and all of them looked like only one-room residences despite some of them being filled with decent-sized families. On our path we walked over a bridge standing over a small stream. A little mesmerized, I walked over to the edge and peered over into the crystal-clear water. It was absolutely beautiful; I could see all the little fishes filling its basin, as well as the small plants beginning to sprout toward its bottom. Having grown up in the city, I never got to see such amazing sights.

“Are you coming, (Y/N)?” I heard Sango call.

“Y-Yeah! Coming.” I took one last glimpse at the scenery, then hurried after Sango.

Eventually we came to what looked like the center of the whole village; there was a small hill and at the top was a tall tree. Beneath the tree sat Kagome and Inuyasha, resting on a red blanket that was spread out over the ground.

“Ah, hi there! Did you get enough rest?” Kagome greeted as we approached.

Once I got too close it seemed, Inuyasha stood and leapt up onto a bough of the tree they sat beneath. Once comfortable, he kicked back and gazed up into the sky at nothing.

“Don’t worry about him!” Kagome laughed. “He’s kind of shy, it takes him a little time to get comfortable with someone new.”

“Don’t make me out to be some pussy-footer!” Inuyasha shouted from up in the tree.

“Whatever, whatever.” She waved her hand, dismissing the matter. “Anyways, I don’t think I caught your name yet.”

“Mine?” She nodded encouragingly. “It’s (Y/N).” I said.

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you, (Y/N).” She motioned for me to sit next to her on her blanket. “Well then, I think you deserve a good explanation at this point, don’t you?”

I gave Kagome a serious look and nodded. Hopefully, her explanation would suffice and explain everything that’s going on. But somehow, I knew I probably wouldn’t like it.


	4. Cold Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're on the road with Kagome and the rest, in search of a lead regarding a sacred jewel fragment. What will you do however when you accidentally stumble across the path of a hungry wolf?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for tuning in to another chapter!! Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for my writing <3\. I appreciate all constructive criticism.

**Chapter 4: Cold Waters**

“I see.” At last, it seemed our long discussion had come to an end.

My head was almost reeling, there was so much to take in; and it was all happening at once, too. Demons exist? Or at least – _existed?_ Priests and priestesses can actually cast _real_ incantations? It wasn’t all for show?

“Well then,” I gulped. I could feel a hole begin pooling at the pit of my stomach. “How do I get home from here, then? Since Kagome goes back and forth, there’s definitely a way back, right?”

My heart sank as Kagome’s eyes grew forlorn and distant. “I’m so sorry, (Y/N).” She shook her head and looked down. “We tried to take you back as soon as we found you in the well, but for some reason it wouldn’t work. Even with the jewel shard around your neck.”

I grasped the jewel dangling off my necklace in the palm of my hand. _This is what started it all._ I thought. “My mom gave me this as a gift before she passed away a few months ago.” I mentioned.

This seemed to make some of the group tense, seeing as their job was to collect these fragments. But the tenseness quickly dissipated when Miroku spoke up. “I am terribly sorry for your loss.” He began. “However, that does beg the question, how did a shard that was shattered and scattered across the country here, end up in yours and Kagome’s time? Do you know how your mother came across the jewel shard?”

“N-No, not exactly anyways.” I fumbled around with my fingers as I continued. “My mom used to work as a shrine maiden at a local temple where we used to live. She told me the gods ‘blessed her’ with it and bequeathed it to me as her next of kin. I always assumed she found it on the ground somewhere around the temple.”

“Hm.” Miroku cupped his chin in contemplation. “I see, though it doesn’t give us much to go on, we’ll have to move forward with what we’ve got.”

Miroku was shockingly a lot more mature than I initially took him to be, perhaps I judged him a little too fast. His words were comforting, and his intentions seemed true enough.

I held the jewel around my neck up between my index finger and thumb, then gazed into its lilac-like exterior. According to what they told me, this jewel held immense power and was primarily used as a booster for demons. How could anyone let something this awful into the world? My eyebrows furrowed in grief, until I finally sighed and came to a conclusion.

I reached back and unclipped the necklace’s chain, then let it and the jewel pile slowly into my hand. Then I took it and passed it to Kagome. “Here, you should take it.”

Kagome looked a little surprised at first, before kindly allowing me to relinquish it to her. “Are you sure about this, (Y/N)? Wasn’t it something important your mom gave to you?”

I nodded. “It was, but I have something even more important than that: her memory.” Kagome seemed satisfied with that answer. “And after all, if I kept it, it sounds like it would’ve only brought me more trouble than it was worth.”

Sango who was beside me, smiled and placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “Thank you, (Y/N). It means a lot to us.”

I tried to return her smile. “Right… Anyways,” I suspired heavily, a great feeling of depression tugging at my spirit. “What should I do now?”

Silence hung over the crowd. Not even Inuyasha bothered to offer a snappy remark or two, and for the most part I only received melancholic stares from my new acquaintances.

“Why don’t you travel with us for now?” I heard Kagome suggest.

“What?” I was a little surprised, based on everything I’d heard, it’d be super dangerous unless I know how to protect myself; and it’d be a hassle to constantly have to babysit me.

“Hey, I never agreed to this!” Inuyasha called from atop the tree. “I don’t want to be put in charge of some puny, helpless human!”

“Yeah, actually,” I couldn’t believe I was about to agree with someone as uncouth as Inuyasha. “Wouldn’t I just be a burden? I wouldn’t want to hold any of you back.”

“If that’s the case, I’d be happy to teach you a thing or two.” Sango said. “While I mainly use this,” She patted her large boomerang-like weapon laying on the grass behind her. “I also know a lot about using other weapons as well. I can let you borrow my kodachi.”

“Hey!” Inuyasha yelled.

“Sit, boy!” Kagome reprimanded. Immediately, Inuyasha came tumbling down from the tree and planted face-first into the hard ground. “Why can’t you see how hard all of this is on (Y/N)? She’d have a much easier time acclimating to this era if she had someone like me who’s from her time hanging around! Plus, while we’re together, we can also keep an eye out for any way to send (Y/N) home.” Kagome glanced at me. “So, what do you say?”

“Um…” I clenched my fists; this was such a hard decision to make.

On one hand if I stayed here, I’d probably end up feeling lonely because of how different everything is compared to my time. I’d learn their ways, and I’d learn how to live among them, but I’d never really feel like I’d _belong_. That, and I wouldn’t be able to go home any faster either. _If I went with the others, I could probably find a solution to go home quicker than I would staying here_. On the other hand, I’d run the risk of being killed by demons day after day. Did I really want to risk my life? Then, I thought of Ami, probably worried sick that I’d disappeared forever.

I sat up straight and looked Kagome square in the eye. “I’ll go with you guys. I don’t know a whole lot about demons, or what to do when they’re around, but I’m willing to learn.”

“And where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Miroku chirped.

Shippo giggled happily and agreed. “It’ll be fun to have you join! The more the merrier, right, Inuyasha?” Inuyasha grumbled angrily in response, his face bruised and dirty from the ground.

“So, when did you plan to leave next, anyways?” I asked.

“As soon as possible.” Kagome explained how they had a possible lead as to where another jewel shard might be located, so they were already preparing themselves to head out as soon as they were able.

In that time as everybody readied to leave, I helped Kagome as she explained to me everything she could regarding the Band of Seven, who they were, and the horrible things they’d committed. Naraku was the one who’d brought them back to life, and Naraku was also the one who kidnapped me and condemned me to the past. What exactly was Naraku hoping to achieve by doing all this? He reminded me of the stereotypical villain you’d see in cartoons, whose primary goal was to destroy the world. But could people – I mean, demons – really be that simple?

“Here you are.” Kaede handed me a beautiful deep blue kimono, and though it wasn’t anything horribly fancy, it took my breath away.

Back in my era, I’d been a total geek over historical times – I couldn’t get enough of it. I constantly aced all my history tests without ever breaking a sweat – my friends were always jealous. And now in this age, I can experience these things firsthand, like this handmade kimono Kaede was giving to me to travel in.

I slipped it on and tied my sash in front; Kaede had also lent me a pair of socks and sandals to go with the outfit. “How does it feel, dear?” Kaede queried.

“A little bit stiff…” I turned and motioned to my legs; the outfit wasn’t tight at all, but if I moved my legs too far apart the outfit became a little showier than I’d like it to be. “Would you mind if I…?” I began to ask.

Kaede, as if reading my mind, nodded, and said. “Not at all, you do what you must. It’s yours now.”

“Thank you.” I removed the kimono and went to work on its bottom half. I decided to cut off the fabric from a touch above the knee down, so it looked a little bit more like a long shirt. And from some other fabric that I was offered, I sewed myself a pair of shorts, so I’d feel less burdened if I needed to move fast. I stood back and admired my handiwork; I wasn’t a professional by any means, but I knew the basics.

Once I revised a few stitches, I put it on and showed Kaede. “It’s different, but not a bad design if you are going to be involved in battle with the others.”

I nodded confidently and thanked her again, then rushed out to meet the others.

“My!” Sango exclaimed.

“You look amazing, (Y/N)!” Kagome added.

I caught Inuyasha looking at me out of the corner of my eye. “Is something wrong?” I was waiting for him to shoot me another nasty remark. Those seemed endless when it came to him.

His look lingered for a few moments more, and then he averted it. “At least you’re not stupid, wearing a flimsy outfit into a fight and all.”

I grinned a little; it was the first time so far Inuyasha had approved of me. It made me feel like I’d earned something precious. “Thanks.”

The group and I left the village shortly thereafter, eventually traveling for hours on the same route. Hours turned into days, and quite unlike what I expected, I enjoyed it a lot. I used to be decently athletic, but I decided to quit sports once I’d entered high school to focus more on my studies. Surprisingly however, my body was able to keep up alright with the harsh terrain, and I ended up liking the hikes, the sights, and overall, the whole countryside. Even the animals were ample, and I got to see them often.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Kagome approached me as I gazed down from the top of a hill we were on.

As far as the eye could see there were forests, mountains, a vast blue sky, and clouds that reminded me of the softness of cotton. I nodded. “Mhm. I never thought I’d be able to see sights like this in Japan.”

Kagome chuckled. “Well I’m glad at least one good thing came about with this mess you’re in.”

“Yeah.”

Kagome’s smile faltered just a little bit, then she quickly tried to lighten up again. “Are you alright, (Y/N)?”

This caught me a little off guard, how was I supposed to respond to that? “Y-Yeah, of course. Why?”

“Well,” She began and sighed. “You haven’t smiled very much since you woke up here a few days ago.”

I held in a sharp breath and looked away; I hadn’t meant for it to be noticeable. “Ah, I’m sorry. I’m still getting used to everything here, it’s just been a little hard.”

Kagome shook her head. “Of course, you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to adjust right away.”

I nodded in agreement. “Right.” Kagome was sweet, and her being here with me certainly helped. I felt less alone than I did when I first arrived, but all in all I still missed normalcy; or _my_ normalcy I suppose.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Sango called brightly.

When I turned around, I saw her holding a short sword in the air, its hilt decorated with a golden metal and magenta cloth. Sango herself was dressed differently now; she was wearing a black suit lined with blush-colored ends, and pink armor-like pads shielding her shoulders, knees, and abdomen. He hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and there was this golden symbol etched onto her left chest. I didn’t remember studying clothing like _that_ in history class.

“Here you are.” She extended the short sword towards me.

“Is this… The kodachi?”

“Yep, and today will be the first of many lessons for you to master it.”

I reached out and retrieved the kodachi from Sango’s hands, it was a touch heavier than I imagined it would be, then again how would I have known? I’ve never held a sword in my life. I looked it over, up, and down, and then I proceeded to pull it out from its sheath. The steel of the blade glimmered in the sun.

“So?” Sango questioned. “Does it feel alright?”

“I think so.” I answered. “I’ve never used or held one before, I’m not exactly sure how to tell if it feels ‘right’ or not.”

Sango only laughed. “You’ll get there, for now we’ll work on the basics.” She began walking off toward a more open area, beckoning for me to follow.

When we arrived in the little, open field, Sango began demonstrating various swordsmanship poses and what they’re primarily used against, and for. But the first stance she had me actually try was one used for drawing the sword and striking with it. It reminded me of the times I’ve watched my friends compete in kendo club.

“Widen your elbows out just a little more.” Sango instructed me. “Now, are you right or left-handed?”

“Left.”

“Alright then,” She placed her hands on mine and gently readjusted them to the right position. “Since your left hand is dominant, you should have it on top – or closest to the blade – with your thumb pointing upwards. Your other hand should be on the lower end of the hilt.”

From there, Sango had me strike the air over and over; it was to practice keeping the same stance and to begin to build strength in my upper body. It was unbelievable how long she had me keep this up, I think it was a little over an hour before she decided to let me rest.

“You’ll probably be sore later, so take it easy for a bit!” She patted my back and praised me. “We’ll pick it up again first thing tomorrow.”

“Right.” I said between puffs of breath. Sweat beaded my face, and my muscles felt as though they were on fire. _Will I be able to keep up with this kind of training?_ I thought pessimistically. _No, no! I have to!_ I sheathed the kodachi and tucked it into the sash around my waist. _If I want to be of use, and get home as soon as I can, I have to keep up._

“(Y/N)!” Kagome called out to me. “Dinner’s served so come get some while you can!”

Food in the feudal era tasted a lot better than I originally planned to give it credit for. Despite the lack of salt, pepper, or marinating of sauces, the meat was spectacular. The tender juiciness, the crispy outside and delectable inside – I could hardly get enough! Even the root soup that Kagome passed around was pretty alright.

“So, (Y/N),” Miroku began to speak to me. “What did you do in yours and Kagome’s time? Were you a shrine maiden along with your mother?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m too young for that. I was still going to school.”

“Ah, Kagome mentioned that she attends something called ‘school’ too. Is it really that important?”

“Of course it’s not!” Inuyasha cut in. “It’s just an excuse for Kagome to leave us and run away for a little bit.”

“It is not!” Kagome snapped. “School is _so_ important! It teaches me everything I need to know to do what I want to do!”

“Yeah, right. I never went to this ‘school’ and I slay demons just fine, everyday!” He smugly crossed his arms.

“You little—!” She jumped up suddenly and balled up her fists at her sides. “You’re so rude, Inuyasha! You don’t understand a thing about my time, so why don’t you just butt out!”

From there, their bickering only escalated, and soon Kagome told him to ‘sit’, and stomped off angrily.

I felt a little nervous and wide-eyed. “Does that happen very commonly…?” I asked.

Shippo sighed and shrugged. “More than you know. Inuyasha just doesn’t know how to treat people right.”

“Whatever!” Inuyasha yelled as he clambered to his feet. “All I did was tell her the truth, it’s her fault for getting mad!” Then as if on cue, Inuyasha stormed off as well.

 _Wow… Talk about a hot head._ I thought to myself.

“Don’t worry about them.” Sango said as she handed me a sleeping bag. Kagome had packed an extra for me in case I couldn’t sleep well on the ground. “This is pretty normal, I’m sure they’ll both come to their senses soon and make up with one another.”

I nodded. I felt something warm and furry nudge at my hand that I held the root stew in. I looked down to see Kirara, Sango’s demon feline companion. When I’d first met her in the village, she frightened me – more so her larger form frightened me – but I’ve come to learn that no matter which form she’s in, she’s still the same ol’ Kirara.

I used my other hand and stroked her fur along her back. “Still a little hungry, huh?” I cooed. “Here.” I set down my bowl of stew next to her, and almost immediately she began lapping up its contents.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” Sango said.

I got up to my feet. “It’s alright, I was getting full anyways.” I pointed after the direction Kagome left to. “I’m going to go see if I can find her, it’s getting pretty dark, so I want to make sure she’ll be alright.”

Sango flashed me an understanding grin and nodded. “Alright, we’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thanks.” I walked into the forest, trying my best to trace Kagome’s steps.

There was a stream this way if I remembered right, maybe Kagome decided to take a dip? It was a pretty warm evening; I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to cool off a little. As I proceeded further, the forestry only seemed to get denser and denser. Would Kagome have really come this way? Well, if she wanted to get in the stream, I suppose the denseness of the trees is what you’d want around you – that way no potential peeping toms would be very easily attracted.

Pushing aside a large branch and stepping over a patch of shrubbery, a stray root that was jutting up out of the ground caught my foot and caused me to fall deep into the bushes I was trying to step over. “Ow…” I groaned as I sat up and checked my knees. Both were scraped and bloody, but not bad enough to warrant stopping my search. “Oh well, I guess I’ll wash it off when I make it to the stream.”

Pushing myself to my feet, I pressed on. I must’ve lost track of time, because by the time I finally found the source of the water, it was pitch black out, and the only illuminating light came from the full moon hanging in the starry night sky.

I sighed; I didn’t see Kagome anywhere. “Oh well, might as well take care of my knees while I’m here anyways.”

I slipped off my sandals and socks, and slowly waded into a shallow part of the stream. I stopped when the water reached my knees and began using my hands to wash off the blood and dirt from my earlier fall. _Ah… The water feels so nice._

When I was done, I stood there in silence. All I could hear was the gradual lapping of the water across the shore and against my legs, as the little waves pushed and parted with each other over, and over. Beyond the water I could hear a gentle breeze rolling through the grass and leaves, cause a soft hiss to whir about the forest.

“Ami would’ve liked it here…” I whispered. My heart caught in my throat. _Ami…_ Though I didn’t say it, I missed her dearly. There hasn’t been a single day that’s passed so far that I didn’t think about her or Dad.

 _She must be so scared… I left her all alone on the corner of that street._ I remembered the sight of her fleeing, right before Naraku took me and fled as well. I remembered reading the fear on her face as she saw Naraku approach me from behind; I remembered her angry, reddened features as she burst with anger at me and ran away.

I felt something hot start falling down my face. _Am I… Crying?_ I tried using my sleeves to wipe away the tears, but they just kept spilling forth. Eventually my sleeves began to rub my eyes raw, and they started swelling up and growing red.

“I have to get back to the others.” I told myself. I tried to wade back to shore, but the tears made my vision blurry and it became too hard to see where I was going. My bare foot ended up finding a loose rock beneath the water, and I crashed down and under the icy waves with a big _sploosh!_

I quickly resurfaced, coughing and relieving my lungs of what little water I could. I sat in silence for a few minutes, just letting the cool rush of water break and flow over my body. _Maybe if I stay here long enough, the water will wash me away._ I immediately sat up and batted my cheeks brazenly for my negative thoughts. “No!” I yelled to nobody. “I can’t… I have to find a way home… For Ami’s sake… And for Dad’s…”

I stared down into the water, a couple tears dripped from my chin and into the water, causing it to ripple slightly. My reflection became obscured, and I could no longer make out its image. _What am I even doing here?_ I scoffed at myself and stood up.

“Hey!” A man’s voice suddenly rang over the silence; it nearly made me jump out of my skin.

I turned around and peered over toward the shoreline that was a few meters away. As everything was still blurry due to my tears, I quickly used my sleeve to wipe the remainder of them away. Once my vision cleared up a little, I was able to make out the silhouette of a young man with a high ponytail, and eyes than shone a brilliant blue against the night.

“Who are you?” Despite his seemingly angelic glow against the moonlight, his tone was menacing and harsh.

I remembered what Kagome had told me: how there were a lot of evil men and demons wandering around in this era that would sooner do harm to me than make friends. Could this be one of those evil beings she mentioned?

I tried to find the words to respond to him, but I couldn’t. I decided to remain quiet, it would be better than unintentionally ticking him off.

“Hey,” He rested his hands on his hips. “Are you mute?” He dropped his hands down to his sides and took one step toward me in the water. “I asked who you were. Don’t make me force it out of you.”

“Stop!” The words escaped me before I could think.

“Oh, so you can speak.” He mocked and continued forward into the water.

“Stay back!” I unsheathed my kodachi and pointed it towards the stranger.

He paused for a moment, looked me over and proceeded to cackle. “Judging from the way you’re shaking; I don’t think you know how to use that thing.”

A shiver ran up my spine, his perception was extraordinary; but I couldn’t let him know that. “Get too close, and you might find out.” I tried my best to sound cocky, put on a show of confidence, but my voice was nearly breaking. I was scared.

He was nearly on me when I stumbled backwards and fell into the water. The stones at the bottom of the stream met my rear with back-breaking force. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip, trying to hide the pain.

When I re-opened my eyes, I was met with the man’s shadow, looming over my frozen state. I furrowed my eyebrows in an attempt to look tough, but I could tell he didn’t care. He leaned down, as if to get a better look at me. Our faces were only a couple feet apart.

At this distance, I could make out his tanned skin, pointed ears and stern features. He was shockingly handsome, and I punched myself mentally for even thinking this creep was worthy of that compliment. His deep blue eyes drew me into its iridescence, like a roaring waterfall in the silence of a jungle at night.

“So,” He started. I almost forgot we were talking. I was too busy admiring his looks – to which I gave myself another mental beating. “Who _are_ you? And why do you smell like Kagome?”


	5. Meet Kouga, the Wolf Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having fallen ill, Kouga agrees to watch over you as a favor for Kagome while she and the others pursue a sacred jewel shard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for tuning in! I'd like to take a moment to say that events within the story may not completely line up with the events that take place in the anime/manga. Thank you again for reading! Feel free to leave comments or kudos, they're really encouraging!!

**Chapter 5: Meet Kouga, the Wolf Demon**

“What?” My voice was shaking with fear and uncertainty, but it was also laced with a twinge of confusion.

“What do you mean ‘what’?” He answered rudely. “Are you deaf, too?”

_Does this man, er— demon I think— know Kagome?_ “I am not deaf!” I retorted, a little irritated now. I sat up straighter and pushed my nose up to meet his. “And who the heck are _you_ — Who do you think you are; coming on to me like that?”

The stranger backed off a little bit, startled by my sudden brazenness. “Wh-What do you mean ‘coming on to you’?” His face grew a little red. “I wasn’t ‘coming on’ to anybody!”

If this guy was in fact a demon, I knew I had to tread carefully. But I didn’t want him to realize how scared I really was, he’d only use that to his advantage. As soon as he’d backed up far enough, I jumped to my feet and leveled my kodachi at him. He scowled, his blue eyes piercing me like an icy pick.

“And what do you think you’re gonna do with that flimsy thing?” He mocked.

“A lot more than poke you,” I leered at him and readjusted the sword. “I can tell you that much.”

_What am I doing?!_ I mentally screamed. I was still visibly shaking, both from the cold water drenching my skin and clothes, and from the rush of adrenaline pumping through my veins. My heartbeat was heightened, my breath was shallow and quick, and I was beginning to feel dizzy.

“I’d like to see you try—.” I immediately cut him off with a swift, and heavy swing of my kodachi.

He quickly dodged, moving back a few paces. “Insolent little…” He began before a voice far behind him interrupted.

“I thought I smelled garbage.” Stepping out from behind the trees was Inuyasha, his silver hair flowing in the gentle night breeze.

The demon peered over his shoulder at him. “Oh, it’s the mutt. Should’ve guessed you’d be slackin’ off around here somewhere.” He growled.

“Think you’re so funny, do ya?” He cracked his knuckles. “Bet it won’t be so funny when I break your bones.” He snarled.

Whatever their relationship, it was obvious neither this demon nor Inuyasha held an immense like for one another. “Inuyasha,” Inuyasha glanced towards me. “Do you know this guy?”

“Yeah, he’s a great pain in my neck. I’ll tell you that much.” Inuyasha paused, and then passed me a baffled look. “Wait a sec, what the heck are you doin’ here?”

I could feel a vein begin popping out from my head. He had asked that question like I had no business being where I was. “I was looking for Kagome after _you_ made her mad! I was doing your job!” I snapped.

“Wha—?” Inuyasha started. “ _My_ fault?! It’s _her’s_ for being too sensitive!”

“Agh!” I yelled. “This isn’t even the time to be having this conversation!”

“So, you made Kagome upset, huh dog?” A dangerous spark lit up in the demon’s eyes. He turned his body away from me and began advancing up the small slope and towards Inuyasha. “I might as well filet you right here and now. You had one job – and that was to protect Kagome, my woman! Not hurt her!”

_His… Woman…? Were he and Kagome a thing or something? What the heck is going on?_ Before I could make another move, I could hear the subject of their troubles – Kagome – call from inside the forest. “Inuyasha! Where the heck did you go off to all of a sudden?”

The demon’s face brightened up a little as he stilled, yet a few yards away from Inuyasha. Kagome slowly emerged from behind the shrubbery, eyes widening a little bit in shock at the sight of our new acquaintance. “Kouga!” She exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

_Kouga… So, they do know him._ Kagome approached Kouga calmly and gave him a sweet smile. “Probably the same thing you’re doing.” He responded to her. “I heard from a few demons that there was a band of criminals wreaking havoc somewhere up here; figured it was the doing of a few jewel shards. And looking for the jewel shards is exactly how I’ll find Naraku.” He swiftly cupped Kagome’s delicate hands in his own, causing a light blush to fall upon her cheeks. “Anyways, how have you been, Kagome? I heard this irredeemable mutt here made you upset. If you’d like I can—.”

Kagome giggled nervously and waved her hands a few times in the air as if to say ‘no’. “It’s alright Kouga, really! Inuyasha already found me and apologized.”

_Oh, so Inuyasha did go and apologize already. Why didn’t he just say so?_ I thought curiously. I spared a peek over at him, he was growing more fidgety by the second, and I could just tell he was itching to get his claws on Kouga. I sighed and sheathed my kodachi; then I waded out of the shallow, cold water and to Kagome’s side.

“So?” I queried. “How exactly do you two know each other?”

“Ah well…” Kagome chuckled tensely. “That’s a pretty long story! In short, we met Kouga a while back. He helped us collect a few jewel shards in the past.”

“I see.” I looked him up and down; now that Kagome was here, he didn’t seem or act all that threatening.

“Name’s Kouga.” He proudly stated. “And I’m the leader of the Eastern Wolf Demon Tribe.”

I crossed my arms. “(Y/N).” I said curtly. My lack of enthusiasm seemed to irk him a tiny bit.

“Hey (Y/N),” Kagome peered over at me. “What happened to your clothes? How’d you get so wet?”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kouga suddenly tense up, probably nervous I’d blame it on him. As fun as that sounded like it might be, I decided to pass it up. “Just tripped and fell. I was trying to wash some dirt off my legs.”

“Oh, I see.” She turned away and beckoned me with her hand over her shoulder. “Well, let’s get going back to camp! When we’re back we can try to dry your clothes off a little bit.”

I nodded. As Kagome led the group, Kouga was quick to be right on her tail. Inuyasha and I followed from the back. Inuyasha looked about as ticked as I was, maybe for a different reason though. I was a little upset because of how rudely Kouga had treated me moments earlier, and now he’s kind only because Kagome showed up. That and he didn’t try to apologize to me at all for the way he’d approached and treated me.

“So, what’s your issue with him?” I quietly whispered to Inuyasha.

He glanced at me momentarily before putting on a blend between a pouty and angry face. “Nothin’ I should have to tell you about!” He still didn’t seem to trust me entirely. Who could blame him? I’ve only been here a few days – they all barely knew me. I sighed.

I pressed a hand to my forehead; I was starting to feel unbelievably warm. I felt a little dizzy, but not enough to impair me enough to be unable to walk. “Are you alright, (Y/N)?” Kagome asked.

I just realized we’d stopped; it seemed I’d been lagging behind a little bit. “Ah,” I began. “Yeah, of course! I’m fine, I think I’m just running a little temperature or something.”

Kagome approached me and placed a cool hand against my cheek. I think my face flushed a little when she did that, I wasn’t used to people being so touchy. “Oh my gosh,” She gasped. “You’re burning up like, a lot! Inuyasha, you should carry her back, she seems really out of it.”

“It’s alright!” I tried to convince her. “I’m totally fine, I swear.”

“If she says she’s fine, then she’s fine! The human can walk herself back.” Inuyasha crossed his arms with a ‘hmph’.

“Inuyasha! Don’t be so heartless!” Kagome reprimanded, but Inuyasha didn’t respond.

“I’m alright, really.” I laughed weakly. Immediately after trying to reassure Kagome, a strong dizzy spell hit me like a train. My legs grew wobbly and I could feel them begin to collapse.

Before I hit the ground though, I felt a pair of strong arms catch me. My vision was too blurry and hazy to make out who had caught me, but I knew once I’d heard him speak. “Don’t worry Kagome, leave that flea bag be. I’ll carry her back to your camp.”

“Thanks, Kouga.” _Kouga?_ _Why though? Probably just to make Kagome happy._

I could feel Kouga readjust me in his arms, until I was laying against his chest. Despite the armor he wore, he felt quite warm. Maybe it was because he was a wolf demon? Canines were supposed to have warmer body temperatures than humans. _Whatever… It doesn’t matter, at least it’s comfortable…_

I quickly drifted away, cradled in Koga’s grasp, the last thing I remembered being his deep blue, enchanting eyes.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

When I finally awoke from my restful slumber, I was beside a warm fire beneath the dark, starry sky. Draped over my body like a blanket was a large, forest green kimono, and a small bundle of leaves acted as a pillow for my head. Slightly lifting myself from my little makeshift bed, I could make out familiar silhouettes moving through the dim light cast by the fire.

Kagome was packing her big yellow backpack with her sleeping bag and other knick knacks, while the others seemed to ready themselves in their own ways. Sango was even dressed in her demon-slaying suit instead of her usual outfit.

Shippo approached me from nearby, carrying a pail of water. The sight reminded me of when I’d first met him in Kaede’s village. “(Y/N)!” He exclaimed worriedly. “Don’t get up yet, you have a really bad fever.” I listened to him and laid back down; my arms felt like jelly. “Here, a fresh cloth for you.” He reached into the pail and retracted a wet cloth. Folding it over a few times and wringing out the excess water, he then gently laid it across my hot forehead. The coolness was nearly relieving.

“Shippo, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Looks like you’re awake.” Kagome knelt down next to me. “You have a pretty bad fever, so you shouldn’t try and move around just yet. Must’ve been from staying in your wet clothes for too long.” She placed the back of her hand against my cheek, trying to get a good gauge on my temperature. “The others and I will be heading out in a few minutes; I sensed a jewel shard nearby so we’re going to pursue it.”

I tried pushing myself up again. “Then I have to get ready too…” Kagome gently pushed on my shoulder to get me to lay back down.

“No.” She answered. “You’re still way too sick to be going anywhere right now. You’re going to stay behind to rest and recover your strength.”

“But—.” I tried to protest.

“No buts.” Kagome persisted. “I already asked Kouga, and he said he’d stay behind with you and catch up to us later.”

That news surprised me a little; based on the previous interactions with him I would’ve guessed he’d do what he could to continue staying beside Kagome. Maybe like Miroku, he wasn’t all that I made him out to be. Maybe he had a more caring side?

I looked around, trying to eye Kouga out of the crowd. Finally, I spotted him toward the outskirts of our campsite, looking out towards the forest. Was he watching for somebody?

“Kagome, we’re all ready to go.” Sango called.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder at her friend. “Right, I’ll be there in a second.” She turned back toward me. “Don’t worry, alright? Kouga is really strong, so absolutely nothing will happen to you. I promise. And when you’re ready to find us, he’s an amazing tracker! So, you’ll have no problems.” She rested a hand on my shoulder, as if giving me a hug goodbye. “I’ll see you later. Get better soon.” With that, Kagome got to her feet and joined her friends.

Kouga tore his attention away from the woods and began to make his way toward Kagome. Once at her side, they exchanged a few words, followed by Kouga sappily grasping her hands in his own kind of farewell, and then her awkwardly taking leave of him.

After the others had faded well into the distance, Kouga turned and walked to the fire. Once directly across from me, he took a seat and began quietly poking at the logs with a nearby stick. It felt pretty strange for the first few minutes. The air between us felt stale and weird, we didn’t really start off on the right foot with each other.

Moments of anxiety-driving silence later, I decided to speak up a little. “Do demons get cold, too?” Bad conversation starter, I knew.

He was silent for a little after my question, but he soon responded to me. “Kagome told you to sleep. I won’t be held responsible if you don’t get better.” I didn’t talk back to that. However, a few minutes later I heard him speak up again. “Yes, of course we do. We’re not invincible or anything.” He mumbled quietly.

I could feel a slight smile try tugging at my lips. Even that little reply was enough to help me feel a little less tense. “So,” I decided to see how long I could push a conversation with him. “Is your tail real? Kind of like Inuyasha’s ears?”

“Well it’s not like it comes off or anything.”

“Pfft—!” I had to cup a hand over my mouth to prevent myself from breaking out into laughter.

“Wh-What’s so funny?” My little outburst seemed to catch him off guard.

“Nothing it’s just,” I rubbed at my eyes with my fist, I was having a little difficulty fighting off the exhaustion. “Inuyasha said something really similar when I first met him, about his ears. You two are a little more alike than I think you guys would like to think sometimes.”

He crossed his arms childishly and turned his head away from me. “Alike, my foot!”

It was silent again. I had a little query sitting in the back of my mind, and I decided this was the best time to ask. “Why’d you stay behind with me?”

“Well it wasn’t for you if that’s what you’re wondering.” Even though I wasn’t even hoping for the kind of reply he was referring to, his answer still ticked me off a little bit. He was unbelievably arrogant. “It was because Kagome asked.” _Of course, because she asked._

“Do you like her or something?”

He faced me again and cocked his head curiously. “Like? Of course, I do, what do you mean?”

“Well,” I rolled over onto my back. “Like do you have a crush on her? As in love?”

He blinked a few times. At this point I was only looking for some sort of amusement. “Of course, I love her. She is my woman after all, isn’t that to be expected?”

 _Hmm…_ “Again, with the ‘my woman’ talk.” I made a serious face and rolled back over to face him. “Do you think Kagome likes being referred to like that?”

The fire casted light upon Kouga’s stern, yet powerful features. No wonder he was a leader, despite his arrogance and childish-like antics he had an air about him that screamed ‘try me, I dare you’. Who knew I’d be the one to try him. “What do you mean, girl?”

I could feel a vein begin protruding from my temples, ready to pop any minute. “First of all— My name is not _girl_! It’s _(Y/N)_!” I sat upright and pointed a finger at him. “Secondly, just how self-absorbed can you get? Kagome isn’t property or anything so you shouldn’t treat her as such! Did you even ask her if she’d like to be yours?”

That seemed to catch him off guard a little bit. “O-Of course she wants to be mine!” He crossed his arms again and glared at me. “Lovers don’t need to speak words to know how one another feels!”

“Well if that’s the way you see it, I don’t think any girl would ever wanna be with you!” Oops. Maybe a little too far.

Kouga was silent, but he held my gaze in place with his enchantingly ethereal eyes. I was still scowling, the prideful part of me didn’t want to admit I’d stepped over a line. I didn’t want to be the first to give in. He finally broke eye contact and shook his head. “Whatever.”

That lackluster response ticked me off a little, but before I could respond I could hear what sounded like thundering footsteps quickly making their way to us. Above the footsteps I heard two distinct voices, calling out. “Kouga… Kouga!” They sounded winded.

“Wh-Who are they?” I wrapped myself tightly in the large green kimono, like somehow it would protect me.

Kouga stood and grinned. “My comrades, they finally caught up.”

“Com…rades…?” I quietly repeated. Was this the reason why Kouga stayed behind? To meet up with his allies?

Once they were close enough, I was able to make out a few key features. One had a tall blonde mohawk with armor similar to Kouga’s, and the other wore more fur over his armor, and had a tuft of dark hair right above the center of his forehead. Both were pretty muscular and toned, and they each had pointed ears. They must’ve been wolf demons too.

Once they’d come near enough, both of them almost collapsed. The spiky-haired one bent over panting like a dog (no pun intended) and rested his hands on his knees. The other flat out sat down in the grass, leaning back and using his arms to prop himself up. He was panting like he’d been without air for minutes.

“’Bout time your lazybones caught up.” Kouga walked over and greeted them.

“Kouga, that’s not fair!” The blonde one complained. “You’re the fastest out of all of us with your jewel shards!”

Jewel shards? So Kouga had them and was using them? I wondered why Kagome and the others hadn’t taken his from him as well. I supposed they’d had a good reason.

The one with the dark tuft of hair spared me a glanced and asked. “Hey Kouga, who’s this? Surely you couldn’t be eating people again.”

I tensed at the thought. _Well of course they’d eaten people, they’re wolf demons. What was I thinking?_

“Of course not, that’d upset Kagome.” _Kagome again…_ Kouga confidently rested his hands on his hips and turned a little to face me. “This is Kagome’s friend. Kagome asked me to look after her until she’s better.”

The one with the mohawk casted me a warm smile. “Hey there! I’m Hakkaku.”

“And I’m Ginta!” The other one announced gleefully.

“Ah,” I blinked a few times shyly. “I’m (Y/N), it’s nice to meet you.” I respectfully bowed my head.

“Now then, since you’re here I’ve got a job for you guys.”

“Already?!” Ginta protested. “Kouga, we just got here!”

“Then take a break when you’re done, this shouldn’t be too hard.” Kouga demanded.

His menacing tone seemed to get through to them, as they both quieted down and listened. After speaking for a bit, both Hakkaku and Ginta ran the opposite way they came, kind of toward the direction that my group had left to.

“Where are they going?” I wondered out loud.

“Scouting.” Kouga walked back to the fire and sat down. “Now get back to sleep. It seems you’re feeling better already, but at least rest some more before we decide to get going again.”

I laid back down on my pillow of leaves, as Kouga had suggested. “Why scouting?”

He sighed. “I originally came up here to track down a band of criminals. But since I’m a little tied up at the moment I sent those two to keep an eye on them until I’m able to catch up.”

“I see.” I paused for a moment and readjusted to get myself comfortable in the kimono. “I’m sorry to be a burden, I don’t mean to.”

“Don’t talk like that.” His stern voice shocked me a little. “You shouldn’t apologize for things that are out of your control. It’s not like you asked to get sick.”

I was quiet for a few seconds before replying. “Right.”


	6. Meet Kyokotsu, Devourer of Men and Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While traveling with Kouga, you encounter Kyokotsu -- a member of the Band of Seven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for tuning in! This chapter is extra long please let me know in the comments if you enjoy longer chapters, I would be happy to release lengthier ones! Also let me know how you're enjoying the series so far! I love hearing feedback!

**Chapter 6: Kyokotsu, Devourer of Men and Monsters**

At some point in the night, I was finally able to drift away in to sleep once more. Tucked within the arms of slumber, I had a dream. A really nice once that made my heart feel warm and light. In it I was with my dad and little sister, Ami. My friends from school were there as well. We sat on a blanket that was spread over lush grass, at one of my favorite parks near where we used to live, prior to moving to Tokyo.

We were all next to the river, laughing and having a good time. Dad was nagging Ami and I about wearing sun screen – his usual dilemma. My friends stood and rushed toward the river’s shore, where the calming waves gently lapped against its beach. I got to my feet, clasped Ami’s small, delicate hand in my own, and followed after the group laughing like a fool.

Once I’d reached the shoreline with Ami in tow, I gazed out blissfully at the vast body of water ahead of me. I’d never been a fan of swimming or water sports in general, but I couldn’t deny that the views of lakes, rivers, and oceans were utterly captivating. After taking in the spectacular sight before me, I turned to glance at Ami to see if she was also looking out at the waters. But she was gone.

Though I had held her hand in mine moments before, she’d disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. I frantically turned around to see that my friends too, had vanished. Even Dad had gone. I began calling out for them, but my voice was weak; like only a hushed whisper was able to escape my lips. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the sand, as my surroundings began to slowly crumble and scatter into a deep black abyss. Burying my face in my hands, I felt tears burning their way down my cheeks.

_Swoosh!_ A powerful gust of wind shot past me violently. Putting my arms up to guard my face from my hair that was now whipping about, I whirled around in place and drew in a sharp gasp. What lay in front of me looked like a disturbingly, large and menacing black hole that was threatening to suck in everything around it.

The longer that I sat there in the sand, the stronger the winds seemed to become. Soon I found it difficult to continue resisting the incredible pull of the terrifying element, and I had to grab a nearby stray root to ground myself. But slowly, and surely, the root began to break. It hadn’t been long before I could feel it barely holding on by a thin strip.

My heart beat fast and quick like the thundering hooves of horses in battle. Fear threatened to swallow me whole, and I was fighting just to breathe. The air felt excruciatingly thin and cold, and I swore any minute that I’d cease being able to breathe altogether. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and prayed. Prayed to God that I might escape this horrible fate, that I might be able to one day see my family and friends again.

And then the root snapped.

My eyes sprung open, greeted by the small amount of light the sun cast over the horizon. It seemed dawn had arrived. I used my elbows to push myself up a little bit and look around. Kouga stood a few feet away from me, kicking dirt onto the fire and putting it out.

“Kouga…?” I mumbled sleepily as I rubbed my eyes. “What time is it…?”

“Ah, so you’re awake.” He replied, a little nonchalantly. “It’s early morning.”

I was so used to the answer being an actual time, like hours and minutes. I forgot that the people of this time used the sun to indicate certain times of the day, not numbers on a clock.

“If you’re feeling better, we should get moving soon and catch up to your companions.”

“Okay, yeah.” I yawned. “Not that I’m complaining or anything but,” I got to my feet and collected the green kimono up in my arms. “What’s the rush? It’s so early too. Shouldn’t we eat?”

He looked at me, and then away. “There’s a disturbance somewhere nearby.” His serious tone of voice caught my attention. When I looked over at him, he seemed to be scanning over the nearby forest, searching. “I’m not sure what it is or where, but the animals and insects – they’re restless.”

_How ominous._ I thought. “Well, I guess I won’t argue with that way of thinking. Better safe than sorry, right?”

Kouga didn’t answer. I could feel the tiniest hint of a pout form on my lips; how could he be so indifferent toward everyone else, but treat Kagome like poetry? The way this guy’s mind worked was just puzzling. _Oh well… I shouldn’t be with him much longer._

I folded the large kimono I borrowed and tied it snugly around my waist. After that, I double checked my kodachi and made sure everything else I needed was present. Then, I slipped my sandals on and walked to Kouga’s side, who was still quite focused on the surrounding vegetation.

“Let’s get going, then.” I lightly tapped him on the back which seemed to cause him to jump a bit. “A little hyper-focused much?” I joked.

“No, I’m just—” He gave up trying to explain and sighed. “Whatever, let’s just hurry and catch up with Kagome.”

 _Kagome this, Kagome that._ Her name seemed to be the one thing that never grew old to him. Maybe that was what love did to people? _Or maybe it’s obsession._ I chuckled to myself.

“What is it?” He asked half-accusingly.

“Nothing, nothing.” I strode past him and ahead.

I noticed that he seemed to dislike not being in front, for he quickly caught up to me and lead again. Maybe that was due to the alpha wolf inside of him; he _was_ the leader of his pack I supposed.

We were both pretty silent for the majority of our hike around the mountainside. I noticed throughout our trip, he appeared rather tense and uncomfortable. He didn’t look at me at all, the only times I even saw his face turned toward me was when he’d hear a noise from a bush.

Eventually, I got kind of fed up with it. I couldn’t tell if he was shy or straight-up just didn’t like me. “Hey.” I said sternly.

“What?” Kouga replied hesitantly.

“Is it just me or are you avoiding interacting or looking at me on purpose?”

He seemed to tense up even more. “No, of course not. I’m just focused on fulfilling my task to—”

“—Kagome, yes I’ve heard you about a thousand times now.” I drawled. “But the ‘task’ and Kagome have nothing to do with how you’re treating me!”

I could hear him grumble underneath his breath. “What does it matter how I treat you? As long as I get you back safely, it’s fine.”

I impulsively reached up and smacked the top of his head with the palm of my hand. “Knock it off, won’t you?!” Oops, I was so used to reprimanding Ami when she had an attitude that way so I instinctively acted.

The sudden beating threw Kouga for a loop. He made a shocked grunt and bent over holding his head, and shaking like my light beating actually hurt. To my dismay though, I didn’t think he was shaking from the pain. All at once, Kouga jumped up, spun around, and pointed an accusing finger at me.

“Hey, what’s your issue?!” He snarled.

I scowled and fired back. “What do you mean ‘what’s my issue’, what’s _your_ issue?!” He was taken aback by my comment and boldness. It reminded me of the time we’d met at the river. “You’ve been avoiding looking at me for like the whole morning! Not only that, it’s like your tippy toeing around and avoiding having to interact with me altogether! Do I bother you that much?”

“No, I just— I just didn’t want to make you more upset!” He blurted out.

He immediately earned a look of confusion from me. “Upset? What the heck are you talking about?”

“Well—…” He stopped himself, trying to piece together what he wanted to say next in his head. In the end he ‘tsked’ and turned away from me.

“Hey! We’re not—!”

“You were crying earlier.” He quickly stated.

 _What?_ I thought, a little shocked. _Is he talking about last night?_ I could feel my face beginning to burn up a little bit, but it wasn’t because of my previous fever. I didn’t like it when others saw me crying or vulnerable like that at all.

“In your sleep, you were crying.” He heaved a sigh like it was the most difficult thing to admit. “I thought you were upset so I didn’t want to hurt any fragile feelings or anything. Happy?” He sarcastically asked, still somewhat avoiding eye contact with me.

“In my sleep?” I repeated curiously. I thought back to the dream I’d had and cast a downward gaze and stopped walking. My heart sank the tiniest bit. “Ah, sorry then. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” I said quietly.

This seemed to unsettle Kouga even more, who put his hands out as if to cheer me up but left them at a long enough distance that they didn’t reach. “I-I’m not uncomfortable, kay! Don’t assume that stuff!” My acute depression caused him to get flustered. “Ah, please don’t start crying again!” He groaned.

I felt a tiny nerve snap in my temple. Depression immediately turned to anger and frustration. “I’m not crying! What made you think that, you dumb mutt!” Kouga jumped out of my way as I stomped my way up the path we’d headed.

“Mutt?!” He asked, shocked. “Hey, where are you going?!” Kouga yelled after me and took a step to follow.

“Don’t you dare follow me!” I demanded. This froze Kouga in his tracks, as all he could do was stare ahead at me incredulously. I didn’t wait for him to recollect himself, and with that I left and disappeared into the brush.

“That little—!” I grumbled between gritted teeth. “Does he take me for, a crybaby or something? Thinking I’ll just break down and cry at every little thing?!” I stopped walking and stared down at my feet. “Seriously…” I said with a twinge of sadness. “I just want to go home…” I clenched my fists at my sides, which trembled with frustration.

I glanced at a nearby tree. It was wide and tall, it must’ve stood there at least a good century. Its roots grew out and sunk into the ground, coming up again every now and again at a place farther from the tree. _I guess I’ll go back to Kouga in a little bit. I can’t stay away for forever._ I decided. _But for right now, I can’t face him._

I walked over to the large tree and then sat and leaned against its base. “Unlike you who have your roots here,” I chuckled sadly. “I don’t belong.” Only the breeze and soft swish of the grass responded to me. “I must be going crazy, talking to trees.”

I closed my eyes as the warm sun beat down on my skin. _Hopefully I won’t burn…_

It was silent for a few long minutes. The chirping of the birds and nearby wildlife whirred with enchanting excitement. Outdoors was my favorite place to be. Nothing was better than feeling the soft blades of grass beneath your legs and feet, nothing better than exploring the great and beautiful world around me that had so much to offer. I guessed that was the bonus of being flung back in time, I got to see the once breathtaking sights of feudal Japan.

I was so lost within my own thoughts that I didn’t notice the hush that had fallen over the forest. The birds had left, and the crickets became silent. It was when I heard the first monstrous footfall that I knew something was wrong.

 _Boom!_ I heard a ground-shaking sound echo across the trees.

“What—?” I jumped and peered out from behind the old tree toward where the boom sounded like it had come from. “What the heck could make a sound like that?”

 _Boom!_ Another one. I scrambled to my feet and rested one hand on my kodachi. _That could be a demon or something, I should hurry and get back to Kouga._ I was about to turn and head back the direction I came, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the shrill scream of a young woman rip through the air.

 _A woman? What could a young woman be doing out here…? Is there a village nearby?_ So many questions were running through my head at that moment. A single trembling hand rested on my kodachi as I weighed my options. Then, with a single definitive grip on its hilt, I spun around and ran as fast as I could toward the source of the shrieking.

“I must be super stupid or something…!” I thought aloud as I battled the thunder in my chest.

Soon I reached a more open spot in the middle of the forest, only it didn’t look like it’d been naturally caused. Trees were knocked down everywhere, some looked like they’d even been completely ripped out of the ground. Nearby, I saw the young woman I’d heard fleeing across the carnage. I quickly made my way to and intercepted her, grabbing her by the wrist and ducking behind a nearby tree that happened to still be standing.

She was whimpering uncontrollably, so it was incredibly difficult to get her to calm down. “Shh, it’s okay! Breathe! In and out, like this.” I began breathing deep in and out, hoping she’d soon catch on. Which to my delight, she did; she slowly began matching her breaths to my own, and though she was still very shaky, she was able to speak a little clearer.

“Now tell me,” I placed my hands firmly on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “What’s going on? Do you know what was making that big sound?”

“A-A-A m-monster!” She managed to stammer out.

Another boom resounded a ways away, probably just across the open forest space.

She yelped fearfully and buried her face into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close; I could tell she was scared for her life. I rested my chin atop her head and stroked her displaced strands of hair back. It seemed she’d been running for a while, she shook violently and her legs and feet were worn from the elements.

“Girl…!” I heard a low, terrifying voice roar. And what was worse, is that it wasn’t far off. “Come out…! You can’t hide for forever… I can smell your fear!” It cackled.

I felt a sharp shiver run up my spine. I pushed the girl gently up and held her face in my hands, so as to make sure she was paying attention. “Listen, we have to go, _now_. I have a friend near here, a really strong one. I’m positive he can help us.”

I looked back to the path I’d taken to get here. It was riddled with stones, sticks and shrubbery. I looked down at her feet, and without hesitation I slipped off my sandals and helped push them on to her feet. “What…?” She mumbled confusedly.

“You’ll be able to run faster with these on.” I looked up at her again, her eyes were wide with uncertainty. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you and I’ll make sure the monster doesn’t get you.” I held her hands tightly.

“Bu—!” She almost began.

“Now,” I interrupted. “I’m going to need you to run that way,” I pointed down the way I came. “As fast as you possibly can once I count down from three.”

 _Boom!_ An even closer one.

“Are you ready?” I asked. I could already feel sweat pooling and falling down my face. She seemed unresponsive at first so I repeated myself again, this time a tad louder and with more force. “Are you ready?!” I shook her shoulders a bit for more emphasis.

“Y-Yeah—!” She finally said.

“Alright.” I gulped. “Three.”

 _Boom!_ The sudden crash caused me to jump and pause a moment, before speaking again.

“Two.” I could feel the fear squeezing my heart. I wasn’t even sure if this would work, maybe the monster had gotten too close already. _But I’ve got to do something…_ I gritted my teeth.

“One.”

 _Boom!_ Right behind us. I shoved the young girl ahead of me as the tree we hid behind was violently uprooted and thrown. I made sure the young girl had made it far enough ahead before daring a glance over my shoulder.

Between the flying debris and dirt that filled the air, I eyed the most petrifying sight I’d ever encountered. In the spot the tree had once been, a giant ogre-like being stood with horrifying stature and incredible strength. He had ugly, pale skin and wild green hair sprouting from his head. He was also covered in armor; it was shocking they’d even made it in his size.

To my horror, I hadn’t made it far enough away yet to remain out of his reach. With one fell swoop, he swiped me from the ground and held me up in front of him to study. His grip was so strong, it felt like he could snap me like a toothpick. I’m lucky he didn’t think to do that right away.

“Huh?” He growled. “Who the hell are you…? Where is the girl?” His breath could rot flowers.

Thankfully, it seemed he didn’t notice her fleeing, which meant she successfully escaped. I flashed him a wicked grin. “She’s way too far for someone like you to catch up now.” I let out a shriek in pain as he squeezed me in his fist.

“You…” He glared. “Your attitude is already getting on my nerves. Die!”

He raised his free fist above my head, preparing to bring it down on top of me and squash me like a bug. I closed my eyes and folded my hands together tightly. If anything could get me out of this situation now, it was God.

“(Y/N)!” I heard a familiar voice cry out. Opening my eyes again I saw Kouga leap up and land a deadly blow across the wrist of the monster that was holding me captive.

Amazingly enough, Kouga managed to sever the thing’s whole hand off. Along with the disembodied limb, I fell to the ground and not-so-gracefully landed on my bum. Kouga also landed nearby, just on two feet unlike me.

He quickly peeked over his shoulder at me and shouted. “(Y/N), are you alright?”

Still processing the prior events, I nodded my head with wide eyes. “Y-Yeah! I’m fine.”

“Good.” I heard him say. “Now then,” I could hear the stabbing venom in his voice. “I should just about kill you for that, you know? Nobody hurts Kagome’s friend while I’m still around!”

For someone who just lost their whole left hand, the giant was pretty nonchalant about the whole situation. In fact, he let loose a big hellish cackle at us two. “You… You think you can take I? Kyokotsu? I’ll devour you alive, and then once I’m done with you I’ll rip that girl over there to pieces and eat her too.” He wagged a long, horrendous finger at me.

A pit filled my stomach as I feigned bravery and glowered at him.

“Yeah,” Kouga spat. “I’d like to see you try.” With that he launched at the giant and landed another powerful blow to his face.

The monster swung several times at Kouga, but Kouga was way too fast to be caught that easily. Kouga landed several different blows all over him again and again, some resulting in immediate bruising and blood. However, all luck runs out sooner or later.

By mistake Kouga slipped, creating an opening for this “Kyokotsu” to snatch him by the leg and fling him into a nearby boulder. To my horror, I wasn’t able to make out any movement from beyond the dust and crumbling debris that Kouga was surrounded in.

“Kouga!” I shouted desperately. I could feel something hitch in my throat as my voice caught.

Kyokotsu eyed me with a scary leer. “You’re next, little girl.”

I scrambled to my feet and just stood for a few moments, watching as Kyokotsu closed the distance. I’d almost forgotten about my kodachi hanging at my hip. I quickly gripped its handle and unsheathed it and leveled it at the monstrous creature, hoping I wasn’t giving away how fearful I really was.

“Little girl… Do you think that flimsy thing can kill me?” His tone was mocking and cruel.

“Only one way to find out.” I quietly chuckled. _What the heck, self? Are you insane?!_

My ridiculing laugh earned me an angry growl. “I’ll crush you…!” He roared.

He brought back a fist and as strongly and quickly as he could, threw it at me. Instinctively, I held my sword out in front of me in a protective stance.

Without warning, a powerful, brilliant light burst forth and enveloped me. It lasted only a few seconds, but its rays were blinding. Somewhere beyond, I heard Kyokotsu grunt loudly in pain. When the light dissipated, I saw Kyokotsu knocked back a bit, trembling and groaning in pain.

I casted a wary glance down at my kodachi, which still burned a little with the light from before, though it was fading. _This is just like the time with Naraku…_ I recalled when Naraku had reached for my jewel shard, causing a huge blast of light to erupt from my body. _The light seemed to injure Naraku back then, does that mean… I did that to Kyokotsu?_

Kyokotsu was still crouched over in pain. His remaining, attached hand was now covered in horrendous burns, coloring his palm and fingers a deep, ashen black.

_Oh man…_ I thought. _Since that didn’t kill him, he’s gonna come back more pissed than he was before!_

I was right, his face was twisted with rage, more frightening than I could’ve imagined. He let loose an ear-piercing roar and charged me. “You’ll die for that!” He bellowed. “I’ll rip you to shreds! No one does the Band of Seven like that!”

Before I could even comprehend it, Kouga had leapt in front of me and blocked the blow of Kyokotsu’s fist. “Kouga!” I exclaimed, overjoyed to see my comrade alive. A small smile even threatened to creep onto my lips.

“So, you’re a part of that group of bandits wreaking havoc up here, huh?” Kouga snarled angrily beneath the giant’s fist.

I thought for a second about what he said. _Bandits? That’s right… Koga mentioned last night there were rumors of bandits around here._

“What of it?” The large man growled.

I noticed Koga’s shoulders shake up and down as he let out a dark chuckle. A deep shadow veiled his face, and a toothy smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It almost seemed like he’d snapped. “You just met your executioner.”

In a single instant, Koga kicked the giant’s fist away and launched off the ground straight to the monster’s head. He drew his claws back and then struck him right in the middle of the forehead. He dug his hand into his skull and seemed to dig around a little bit, before retracting a single shard of something shiny. Kyokotsu immediately collapsed, no longer moving.

Kouga fell back to the ground, stumbling a little as he did. He seemed a little injured from being thrown into the boulder earlier. I ran to his side as he knelt to the ground, obviously in pain.

I placed my left hand on his back and my right on his right shoulder. “Kouga, are you alright?”

“I will be.” He snapped. I let it slide though, I knew he was hurting pretty bad. “Get… The jewel shard…”

“Huh?” I looked up toward the location that the shard had fallen to. “You mean that?”

Before I could think anymore about it, I saw a huge wasp-like creature fly down toward it and pick it up.

“No! Don’t let it get away!”

I jumped up and left Kouga’s side, trying to catch up to the wasp before it was too far up for me to reach. Unfortuntately, I didn’t get to it in time. I clenched my fists and looked back at Kouga. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t get it.”

He clicked his tongue in irritation., then sighed. “It’s fine, I can still catch up to it if I hurry.”

“No!” I rushed up next to him and grabbed his arm, attempting to steady him a little as he fought to stand. “You’re hurt, you shouldn’t be going anywhere but a doctor’s right now.”

He tore his arm out of my grasp and growled. “I don’t need no doctor, that’s a human thing.”

He tried stomping away from me in the direction the wasp disappeared, but he only got a few more steps in when a searing pain set in, causing him to collapse to his knees and huddle down. I ran to him once more and kneeled down next to him. I took his arm again, and this time he didn’t try to get away or fight me.

I pushed his arm over my head and rested it across my shoulders. Then, slowly and carefully, I helped him to stand and we turned around and started heading toward the path that we’d come from. Before completely exiting the scene, I casted a backwards glance over my shoulder at Kyokotsu’s remains. All that was left of him was bones; the rest of him seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Only the stench of decaying flesh and old bones remained.

_What a strange world I’ve gotten myself into._ I thought.

I walked myself and Kouga back into the thick of the forest, and stopped once we were near enough to the road, but not close enough to be seen from it. At least, not easily. I let Kouga down next to a tree, another tall one just a little bit thinner in width than the one I’d found earlier.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

My eyebrows were drawn in worry. Kouga looked as if he were feigning comfort, pretending like it didn’t hurt as bad as it did. I couldn’t see any visible signs of injury, just a few abrasions and tiny scratches here and there. When I saw him flung at the giant boulder though, it looked like he’d taken the blow against his back. So maybe the worst injury was there.

“I’ll be fine.” He grumbled. “Demons are a lot stronger than you humans, I’ll heal in no time.” He winced in pain.

“Here,” I pushed at his shoulder a little bit. “Let me take a look at your back.”

“What?” His eyebrows furrowed and he sent me a wild, exaggerated glare. “No way! I’m fine, what could a human like you do, anyways?”

“Oh, quit complaining! Just let me take a peek!” I could tell by the way he was acting that his back hurt the most. He was surprisingly easy to read.

“In your dreams!” He retorted as he tried to tear his shoulder out of my reach.

I wasn’t going to give up very easily, unfortunately for him. “Quit being stubborn…!” I argued as I wrestled with him, attempting to turn him over enough to look over his injury.

Eventually somehow, our hands became inter-locked and it was a match to see who could push the other back first. Nicely enough though, I could tell Kouga was going easy on me. According to Kagome and the others, demons had almost immeasurable strength compared to humans. Kouga was using just enough to keep me at bay.

Before long though, an idea popped into my head. We stayed in the same position for a little bit longer, when I flashed him an evil leer. His eyes widened a bit in surprise, he must’ve seen the evil glint in mine. With the most strength I could muster, I pushed back on his hands as much as a could. Then, I swiftly redirected his own hands downward and let go, causing him to tumble over and fall on his face.

“Hey—!” He grunted angrily.

I quickly climbed onto his back and pinned his wrist behind his shoulders. He wailed the tiniest bit in pain as I held him down. “Let me take a look and I’ll let you go.” I smiled victoriously.

I could hear him snarl and mumble unhappily beneath his breath. But in just a few, silent, and thoughtful moments, he conceded. “Alright.” He began. “But,” My smile disappeared as I listened. “Only if I get to ask a few questions about earlier.”

My face contorted into confusion. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what—” He said impatiently. “That thing you did, the light you gave off before Kyokotsu’s hand was nearly turned to ash!”

“Oh—” I almost began stammering. I narrowed my eyes; what had happened then was as much a mystery to me as it was to him. “A-Alright.” I hesitantly agreed. I felt bad, like I was almost lying to him. I didn’t know a whole lot about it, but at least I could tell him what I did. I didn’t want to pretend that I was hiding anything.

Soon I felt Kouga’s tenseness fade, and I let go of his arms. Unexpectedly though, he instantly sat up, throwing me off and onto the ground. “Hey!” But I froze when I noticed him slipping his armor off his shoulders.

My face immediately started burning up, realizing what I’d asked for. I quickly turned away and covered my face. I’d never seen a guy half-naked this close ever; if my Dad had been around, he would totally be all over Kouga at this point. My maiden heart almost couldn’t take it.

“Hey, you wanted to look, didn’t you? Hurry up before I change my mind.” Somehow, Kouga’s wording didn’t make the situation any better.

I slowly returned my gaze to him, and uncovered my eyes. But my mind was quickly redirected from perversion to the sight before me. His back was colored a deep black, blue and purple, some spots already turning green or yellow. I crawled over toward his back and instinctively reached out to touch it.

When my fingers touched, I could feel Kouga ever so slightly recoil. “Ah, I’m sorry did that hurt?”

He scoffed. “Of course it didn’t. What the heck do you take me for?” He lied.

My face twisted a little in anguish as I sat back on my knees and he redressed himself in his armor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt on my part.”

“Forget it, it doesn’t matter anyways. It’ll heal in no time.” He glanced over at me with his sky-blue eyes. I hung my head. “Seriously don’t sweat it—” His voice shook a little bit with a tinge of anxiety. He really didn’t know how to take it when somebody else was upset. “A-Anyways,” He crossed his arms. “It’s your turn now, keep your end of the bargain.” He attempted a smooth topic-change.

“Right,” I agreed solemnly. “If I’m purely honest, I have no clue what happened back there.” He gave me a stern look that encouraged me to continue. “It happened once before too, when I first encountered Naraku and he tried to take the sacred jewel shard I was using as a necklace at the time.”

“I see.” He looked down in thought. “It almost looked similar to Kagome’s powers. Only she uses her’s infused with her arrows. You used it with your sword.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And it’s only happened when I was truly afraid too. When I think I’m gonna die, that’s when the light appears.”

“Hm.” He said thoughtfully.

I stiffened up and rested my fists in my lap. “I-I understand if you don’t want to travel with me anymore.” I empathized. “I don’t mean to burden you, but I realize now that I’ve become one.” My bangs hung over my eyes, guarding them.

“No, it’s fine.” He waved. “We’ll continue and find Kagome. She might know something about your special powers.” He got to his feet. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about now.” He scowled.

“What’s that?” I asked curiously, unbelievably relieved Kouga chose to stay with me and not leave. I didn’t think I would’ve survived if left to my own devices.

“That Kyokotsu guy,” Kouga spat. “He’s a part of that group of bandits that’s been causing chaos arounds here.”

“How do you know?” I also pushed myself to my feet.

“That jewel shard that fell from his forehead was a dead giveaway.” He answered. “And Naraku’s damn bugs were too. And if we found Kyokotsu here, who knows how close the other members of the bandits are.”

A chill ran up my neck at the thought. If Kyokotsu was that much trouble, who knew how nightmarish all of them together could be.

When I felt Kouga take my hand in one of his, I noticed I’d been staring at the ground with a troubled look on my face; fumbling around with my fingers. That’s what I normally did when I was nervous.

“Don’t worry.” Kouga said. My heart fluttered a little at those two words. Though he said so little, it was the kindest he’d been to me since I’d met him. “Kagome and the others can’t be too far ahead. Let’s get moving and avoid travelers for now. We don’t know what the other band members look like after all.”

Without letting go of my hand, he led me out and toward the path we started on. I felt a light blush paint my cheeks as I brought an arm up to cover them. _How dumb of me…_ I thought. _What am I doing… Getting excited?_


	7. My Story and Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kouga escorts you to a nearby village to get new shoes, where you reunite with the girl you saved and learn more about the Band of Seven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update, but thanks again for tuning in! I adore Kouga's character and really want to do him justice, so please leave comments! They're super encouraging and lets me know people like my story. Thanks!

**Chapter 7: My Story and Yours**

Kouga and I had been walking for a while now, only a few hours between the present and the incident that took place earlier. The encounter with Kyokotsu left Kouga bruised and badly hurt, but he seemed to be doing much better, at least better than I’d expected him to do. The power that demons held was still quite appalling to me; being able to heal in mere instances compared to human standards, having amazing versatility and strength, and most noticeably of all: owning an attitude that rivaled that of a preschooler’s.

I sighed. Despite our untimely argument before we’d collided with Kyokotsu, I thought we would’ve figured things out a little bit and became more comfortable with each other. However, that couldn’t have been farther from the reality of things. Kouga remained distant and quiet, and me, indifferent. I thought about getting upset again, but I remembered where that put us last time. So, I decided against that and went with a different approach this time.

“So, how exactly did you meet Kagome and the others?” I attempted to make my voice bright and friendly, though I’m not sure if I pulled it off too well.

He was still silent for a few moments after I’d spoken, and I could slowly feel my patience waning; but I did my best to stay cool.

Unexpectedly however, he did voice a reply. “What’s with the random question?” He asked.

I smiled and picked up my pace a little to walk closer to his side, but not quite _at_ his side still. I wasn’t sure if he’d hurry ahead of me again as he did when we first began our trip.

“Well I thought since we’ll be traveling together for a while longer, we should get to know each other better!” I got a little nervous and began playing with my fingers. “I know Kagome told me it was a long story, but we’ve got time!” I pleaded.

He casted me an annoyed glare, like he was wishing I might drop the topic soon. I just about reached up and punched him – was this guy devoid of people skills or something?!

Kouga sighed. “Fine.”

I felt my heart lift a bit at his words.

“I first met Kagome in the middle of a village near my pack’s den.”

Kouga continued to explain his story in vivid detail; I didn’t realize he had the ability to talk so much. However, much of his story was transparent and I could see right through him. For example, he described how he’d ‘liberated’ Kagome from her group, under the impression they were dangerous demons who’d kidnapped her. But I’m undoubtedly sure it was _him_ who was the dangerous demon and not _them_. Nevertheless, I enjoyed his tale and savored every utterance.

So caught up in his words, I didn’t even come to realize that he’d finished his retelling.

“So?” He queried.

“Ah— What is it? Sorry, I was kind of spacing.” I giggled nervously.

He crossed his arms. “Jeez, you ask someone a question then don’t bother to listen to the answer?”

“Don’t give me that, I was listening the whole time!” I fired back. “I just… Spaced out towards the last thing you said.” I glanced away, embarrassed.

I could feel Kouga’s eyes burning holes in the back of my head. But soon, he looked away and repeated himself. “I asked how you’d met them. It’s only fair if you tell me since I told you.”

I turned and gazed up at him curiously. _Is Kouga maybe, curious about me?_ For some reason, I could feel butterflies begin to flutter in my stomach.

“Well,” I looked down at my hands as I fumbled around with them. I could feel a smile coat my lips and a light blush fall on my cheeks. “For starters, I’m actually from the same time as Kagome.”

“From Kagome’s land?” Kouga seemed to say to himself.

It sounded like Kouga understood Kagome’s ‘traveling through time’ as ‘traveling to another land’. I guessed that the subject of time travel was still pretty foreign during the feudal era.

I flashed him a little grin. “Yeah.”

I noticed him tense a little and quickly direct his attention elsewhere. Or was that my imagination?

“Anyways,” I paused a moment to see if he was paying attention, he was. “I was out with friends when I was suddenly taken away by Naraku.” I declined to tell him about the various nightmares up until that point, it was irrelevant now anyhow. “I’m sure he was after the jewel shard on my necklace, but he wasn’t able to get it. Inuyasha and Kagome appeared to try and stop him, but he fled and dragged me along with him.”

“Doesn’t surprise me a bit, he really is a coward.” Kouga grumbled.

I nodded. “In the end, for whatever reason, he thrust me down the well that Kagome uses to travel to and from here. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in Kaede’s home. From there, Kagome sort of caught me up on everything one way or another. And now, here I am!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t go home.” Kouga commented.

I stopped fiddling with my hands and looked down glumly. “Well, of course I wanted to, it just isn’t in the cards for me at the moment.”

Kouga was quiet for a moment, but I could tell he sensed the shift in moods. He was really quite perceptive. “Couldn’t you go back the same way Kagome does?”

I shook my head. “No. That was the first thing I asked.” I said. “But Kagome said they’d already tried.”

After that, it almost seemed like our conversation had ended. We were both quiet, and the door for discussion felt like it had been slammed shut. But unlike what I assumed, Kouga swiftly spoke up again.

“Well, that’s okay.” He stated. “It’s not so bad around here, you’ll see.” He sped up a little and stopped at the peak of the cliff we were walking toward. Then, he turned to face me as I too approached. “And if you still want to go home, I’m positive there’s a way. Though I really don’t like that dog-brain, Inuyasha, their group is pretty good at making things happen.”

I could feel my eyelids ever so slightly rise in shock. _Is… Is Kouga trying to cheer me up or something?_ I could feel my heart begin to flood with warm feelings, it was the most at ease I’d felt in a while.

I beamed him a smile, and nodded.

When I’d finally caught up with him, I immediately crumpled to the ground. A horrible feeling of vertigo hit me; I hadn’t realized we’d climbed so far up until I peered over the side of the cliff. The drop had to be thousands of feet down, or at least that’s what it felt like.

“K-Kouga…” I stammered. “What the heck are we doing up here…?”

When I looked up at him, he pointed down the cliff towards a small village surrounded by a thicket of trees.

“A village?” I hadn’t noticed it before. I was probably too distracted trying to prevent myself from hurling due to the vertigo.

“I noticed you’d lost your shoes during the scuffle with Kyokotsu. It’ll be better if you get new ones right away, so your feet don’t get hurt.”

I suddenly remembered that I’d lent my shoes to the young girl being pursued by Kyokotsu. I was sure glad we’d gotten to him before he got to her.

I looked down at my feet, the only thing protecting them being torn and worn socks. I supposed it would be smarter to get better footwear as soon as I could, but I took one look at the village and one sarcastic glance at Kouga.

“And how the heck do you expect us to get down there?” I drawled.

“This way.” Without warning, Kouga knelt down, weaved his hands around my waist, and heaved me up and over his shoulders.

“Wha—?!” I screamed.

The dizziness and air hit me before I could even comprehend what was happening. And then, we were falling. I could feel Kouga’s large hand pressed hard against my back for support, holding me steady as he landed on the mountain’s slope and started skidding down it.

“A-A-Are you crazy?!” I yelled and clung to his back.

Kouga replied nonchalantly. “It was the fastest route! I knew you wouldn’t go for it if I told you!” His tone of voice sounded gleeful.

“Y-You lunatic!” I continued to reprimand.

I felt Kouga hit an empty pocket in the rocks, causing him to drop a little faster for a few long seconds. I yelped and hugged his back tighter, longing for something I could physically grip with my hands to prevent me from falling off.

But luckily enough for me, after free-falling for what felt like minutes, Kouga finally slid to a stop at the mountain’s base. He tried to gently let me down, but the moment I could feel the ground beneath my feet, I crumpled and collapsed to the earth. The world appeared to be spinning, and the sun’s light was blinding.

“(Y)-(Y/N)!” I heard Kouga stutter. “H-Hang in there!”

Finally, after a minute of trying to gather myself, the world finally came into focus. Kouga was leaning over me, hand lightly shoving my shoulder as if to somehow grab my attention. Staring up into his handsome-yet-annoying features, my eyebrows furrowed and I immediately sat up and slapped him clean across the face. And this time, I didn’t regret it; not one bit.

“Are you a moron or something?! My heart nearly gave out!” I was livid.

Kouga stumbled backwards a bit, it seemed the slap I gave him either knocked a few brain cells loose or sent him into shock. But unfortunately, it seemed it was the latter. He gingerly touched his cheek where I left him a bright red mark in the shape of a handprint. I thought he’d mumbled something, but I wasn’t close enough to hear.

“Seriously! Think things through before you throw me over your back like luggage and leap off a cliff!” I was practically trembling with rage.

“Wh—” Kouga seemed to be returning to his senses. “You’re the _crazy_ one! I got you down the mountain safe! Why the hell are you pitching a fit!!”

I jumped to my feet and shot him an icy glare. “You…” I gathered my hands into shaking fists at my sides. “You idiot!” I spun on my heel and stomped off in the direction of the village.

“Hey—!” He began, but I wouldn’t give him the chance to finish.

“Shoes, right?! I’ll get them so quit bothering me!” I yelled.

Kouga stood dumbfounded, helpless as all he could do was stare at the back of my head until I disappeared out of sight. Then once I’d gone, a vein had finally burst and he began kicking the ground, growling, and pacing back and forth.

“Seriously—! What is wrong with—! AH—!” He barked.

He wiped his forehead with the palm of his hand, pushing loose bangs over to the side. “That woman is gonna drive me nuts…” He grumbled quietly.

After walking for a few minutes, I’d reached the outskirts of the little village. Once I’d entered, I received plenty of suspicious-looking glances from the locals, but I figured it was because of the “weird” fashion I wore my kimono in. Here and there I glimpsed villagers gathered together in small groups, whispering amongst themselves while tossing me scornful looks.

Deciding to avoid those people, I stopped a passerby and asked where I might find a shoemaker’s house.

“O-Over there…” She avoided making eye contact with me and pointed me in the direction of a smaller hut with a bench out front.

“Thank you—.” She hurried away before I had the chance to thank her.

_Weird…_ I thought.

I approached the small hut and called out. “Excuse me! My name is (Y/N), is there a shoemaker here?”

“Yes, yes! I’ll be right there!” I heard an older man respond.

After hearing his answer, I went to the little bench and sat down to wait. I leaned back a little and stared up into the sky, it’s deep blue reminded me of Kouga’s eyes. As soon as the thought crossed my mind though, I waved hysterically at the imaginary thought bubble hanging above me and balled my hands into fists.

_Why does that jerk have to cross my mind now?! I’m mad at him, he’s not worth my time!_

“Thanks for waiting, I was just—.” The gentleman I’d heard earlier exited the little hut through the curtain blocking the doorway, but froze and stopped talking mid-sentence the moment he got a good look at me.

“Wh-What?” I casted him a baffled expression, but he remained silent, like he was in shock.

“What is it, father?” I heard a familiar, young, and feminine voice ask behind the man.  
“No— Wait Mai—! Don’t come out here!” The man tried to warn the young maiden but she’d already pushed past him far enough to catch sight of me.

“Oh!” Her and I exclaimed in unison.

“It’s you, from earlier!” I continued my thought and stood with excitement.

“Yes!” She skipped over to me and collected both of my hands in hers. “I’m so happy to see you again, so that I can properly thank you this time!”

“Thank me…? But I didn’t really do anything.” I was beginning to feel flustered.

“Um, darling… Who is this? Your friend…?” Who I assumed to be her father wearily queried.

“Yes, father!” She twirled around and grasped the arms at his sides. “She’s the girl! The one who saved me from that beast!”

Her father’s eyes squinted for a few moments, as if deep in thought. Then his eyes widened with recognition. “Oh! _She’s_ the girl?”

“Yes!” Mai smiled elatedly.

“Oh, well if that’s the case,” He turned back to me and smiled as well. “What can we do for you?”

I explained to them my reason for seeking out a shoemaker, and to my delight, Mai ran back inside and returned with the pair of sandals I let her borrow to escape Kyokotsu.

“They had fallen apart a little bit, so I had father repair them as much as possible. I hope they’re still to your liking.” She held them out for me to study.

Happily, I took the sandals and tried them on.

“Oh, your socks are ruined too!” Her father observed. “I’ll go grab you another pair.”

Mai and I rested on the bench next to each other as we waited for her father to return.

“So,” I couldn’t help but ask, this had been bothering me for a while now. “What’s with the villagers here? Not that I’d necessarily like them to, but they don’t seem to appreciate my presence.”

“Ah, them,” Mai began. “Don’t pay them any mind. It’s the rumors about those bandits that have them all in a tizzy. I suppose the way your dressed makes them think you might be associated with them.”

“Oh, really?” I hadn’t thought of it that way before. “But what’s the big deal with this group of bandits anyways? Aren’t there a lot of them these days?”

“Yes, but,” Mai’s voice lowered to a whisper, her tone laced with dread. “Normally bandits are in it for the gold, the women, and the bounties. However, it seems this group is simply in it for the _killing_.”

A sharp chill ran up my spine at the thought of such merciless killers. “Just _killing_? How awful…”

Mai nodded in subtle agreement. “Yes, they’re cold, soulless mercenaries. And so far, anyone that’s crossed their path hasn’t lived to tell of it. That’s why everyone is suspicious of every newcomer that travels through.” She casted a downward gaze at her hands that lay folded in her lap. “We’re ruled by rumors and fear that they’ll travel through and slaughter us. That’s what they did to all the other villages they crossed.”

“Ah…” I couldn’t even find the words for that sort of malice.

“Hard to believe they’re human, for how violent and evil they are.” She added.

My eyes widened with shock. “They’re human?!”

Mai nodded once more.

I thought back to the encounter with Kyokotsu; his massive form and sharp shark-like teeth. _Could that thing really have been human?_ The thought made me shiver.

Mai’s father shortly came back to us, socks in hand. I slipped them on, and then the sandals over them. I stood and took a few steps to test them out.

“How do they feel?” He asked.

“Perfect.” I flashed him a smile. “I really can’t thank you two enough, you saved me from blisters and bruises!” I laughed.

“ _We_ should be the ones thanking _you_!” Mai interceded. “Please, won’t you stay a while longer and eat with us? As a thank you.”

I thought about it for a moment, but receded. “Ah, I’m sorry but I can’t.” I remembered Kouga; he was probably waiting for me outside the village.

Mai’s eyes grew sad. “But why, surely you could spare an hour?”

I shook my head. “I really can’t.” I took her hands in mine and grinned. “I have a friend waiting for me, outside the village.

Mai thought for a moment, then her face lit up with recognition. “Oh! That handsome pony-tail guy!”

_H-Handsome pony-tail guy?_ “Y-Yeah.” I responded, a little surprised. “He’s actually the one who saved us, we’d be dead without him.” A soft smile played across my lips, and another warm feeling swelled within my chest.

Mai giggled. “He was so worried about you.”

“Huh?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“When I was running away, I happened to run into him.” She said with a light smile gracing her delicate features. “He stopped me pretty forcefully and kept asking me where you’d gone. When I told him, he took off after you! He was super worried!”

My face flushed a light tint of red. _Kouga was worried about me?_ But then I reminded myself. _It’s just because I’m Kagome’s friend, nothing more than that._

I laughed and instinctively patted her head. She reminded me so much of Ami. “Well, thank god for friends like that.” I chuckled.

I exchanged farewells with them, and promised to come see them again in the future if I traveled through once more.

The day was just about nearing its end, and the sinking sun was beginning to turn the sky a bright shade of orange. Unexpectedly, straight ahead of me at the village’s end, I could see the silhouette of a young man clothed in furs and armor. He had pointed ears and a high, black ponytail pulled back behind his head. And above all his other features, his piercing blue eyes stood out the most against the evening sky’s warm hues.

I could feel a deep blush coat my cheeks; thank goodness it went unnoticed due to the sky’s red color.

I jogged up to Kouga and took my place at his side, as we continued walking down the path away from the village.

“’Bout time you finished up.” Kouga drawled.

“You should’ve joined me Kouga, I think you would’ve enjoyed it.”

“Hah?” He asked, sounding a little shocked. “Did you forget how pissed you were at me or something?!” He complained. “Not to mention I stayed _out_ because villages don’t tend to be too welcoming of demons.”

“Right, but,” I began. “This one would’ve been alright.” My last words turned short of mumbles, but to Kouga, I’m sure my quiet, joyful tone told him most of the story.

“Whatever.” Kouga decided to give up trying to decipher the meaning behind my behavior.

All I could do was smile at him, gazing at his sturdy back as he took the lead in front.


	8. Suikotsu: Healer or Killer?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Mai's village is struck by tragedy, you rush in head-first to save her. During your endeavor, you meet a kind doctor name Suikotsu. But is he everything he seems to be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for tuning in again! Thank you guys so much for the wonderful, heart-warming comments! They make my day!! Please enjoy this new chapter, a lot of work and detail went into this so let me know if you enjoy longer chapters!

**Chapter 8: Suikotsu, Healer or Killer?**

Kouga and I didn’t travel much farther from the village before stopping to set up camp for the night. We settled in a spot far from the main road, somewhere surrounded by thick brush and tall trees where our fire wouldn’t be easily seen. Though it wasn’t likely any demons or people would stray into the area, Kouga decided it was best if we played it safe. And after our scary encounter with Kyokotsu, I couldn’t say I was in any position to disagree.

I had just finished clearing a spot for the fire when Kouga returned with firewood.

“Thanks, Kouga.” I patted the ground next to me. “You can leave them here for now, I’m not done making the fire pit yet.”

“Right.” He said curtly, setting the stack of logs down in a pile next to me.

I was growing used to Kouga’s short, and straight-to-the point way of speaking. If he had been born during my era, he would’ve definitely been the thuggish, delinquent type that grinded the nerves of every teacher in school. I’d never gotten along with those kinds of people, yet somehow, I found myself drifting closer to Kouga with every passing moment we spent together. He was slowly but surely, growing on me.

“What do you want to eat?” Kouga asked above me.

“Um…”

The thought had crossed my mind a few times throughout the day, regarding what I might want to eat. But some squirmy feeling in my gut told me I wasn’t quite ready to try skinning or fileting Bugs Bunny just yet.

“I-I’m alright.” I tried playing it off and avoided meeting Kouga’s eyes. If I looked up now, he’d be able to tell I was lying in a heartbeat. “I found some berries earlier, I’m sure they’ll tide me over until tomorrow.”

But my façade was cruelly struck down before Kouga could turn away and forget about it. From an empty place deep within my stomach, a long, embarrassing growl crept out from the depths.

I remained silent for the few agonizing moments that followed, still as stone. Meanwhile, I could feel Kouga’s blue, criticizing gaze boring holes far into my frozen figure. My cheeks were blooming red.

“What drivel.” He grumbled. Then, Kouga spun on his heel and disappeared into the surrounding thickets.

The exact moment he’d finally gone, my head sank in humiliation. I sat back on my butt and brought my knees up to my chest. Holding them together with my arms, I rested my forehead against my legs.

“Ahh, why did my stomach have to go and…” I groaned.

I peeked over my knees and looked over my unfinished fire pit. Sighing, I crawled forward, and using the big rocks I’d gathered earlier, I created a ring and threw Kouga’s firewood in the center. Then, I took a nearby stick, some dry weeds, and started the fire.

I sat back against a tree that was a few good feet away from the embers. “Kouga must think I’m a glutton or something…” My eyes widened the moment those words left my lips. “What the heck am I saying?! I don’t care what that blockhead thinks!”

A sudden shuffle in the bushes adjacent to me caused me to let loose a shriek and fall backward. I instinctively raised my arms above my head in defense.

“What the hell was that?” I heard Kouga’s lackluster voice say.

I blinked widely a few times, mentally gathering myself. “K-Kouga?” I released the breath I’d been holding. “So, it was just you…” I said to myself. I relaxed and dropped my arms, pushing myself back up into a sitting position.

While my eyes had fallen shut with relief, I felt something round, hard, and small fall into my lap. Opening my eyes, I was pleased to see a big apple, ripe and bright red. I glanced up at Kouga, he still had a few more piled in the pocket of his left arm.

“A-Are those for me?” I asked.

“Well who else would they be for?” He replied. “It’s not like I eat this crap.”

He tossed me one more apple and set the last couple of them to the side of the tree I was next to. After catching the fruit, my eyes followed him until he retired himself against a farther tree.

_Did he notice I didn’t wanna eat an animal yet or something?_ I pondered. The instincts of wolves amazed me. Not that he was a _whole_ wolf exactly, but… A half-wolf? He _did_ look more human than animal, though his behavior begged to differ sometimes.

“What about you?” I wondered. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I took care of myself earlier.” He stated. “While you were in the village.”

“Oh… Okay.”

I bit into the first apple and chewed slowly. It tasted amazing, I was surprised wild apples could be this good without the constant care from farmers. It was sweet, crisp, and overall perfectly delectable.

I casted Kouga another sideways look. His eyes were closed, but he was still too tense to have fallen asleep. I recalled this morning, when I had gotten upset and tore into him for dragging me down a cliff. And though he _did_ deserve it, I knew he only had good intentions.

“Hey, Kouga?” I quietly queried

“Hm?” Though he answered, his eyes remained closed and indifferent.

I swallowed the chunk of apple in my mouth before speaking. “I’m sorry… About earlier. I don’t think I should’ve chewed you out like that.” I peered down at the red skin of the apple in my hand, studying it. “I’m just, you know… Heights really bother me—” I was hoping I didn’t sound as pathetic as I thought I was. “I get this really sick feeling in my stomach, and I get scared.”

“It’s fine. Something like that,” He exhaled. “You don’t need to say sorry.”

“I know, but—” I paused mid-sentence, and gathered myself. “I’m just afraid you’ll think I’m over-sensitive, or mean.” My last words turned to mumbles; I was hoping he didn’t hear them.

“I don’t.” He said coolly.

I casted him a brief look of curiosity. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He said it like it was obvious. “Though sometimes you’re bull-headed.”

“Egh…” That irked me a little bit, and an ugly noise erupted from my throat in reaction. I used my hand and pressed it to my mouth, in hopes maybe Kouga didn’t hear that either.

“That was a weird noise.” His eyelids rose and he turned toward me, exposing his breathtaking, sapphire irises against the dawn’s waning light. I could’ve sworn he grinned a little too.

I felt my heart jump into my throat, and I quickly averted my gaze from his as a mad blush rose over my cheeks. “Shut up.” I whispered.

_Why did I say that?! What’s wrong with me? I’m being ridiculous!_ I mentally reprimanded myself. My heart felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour and I could feel steam practically trailing from my ears.

“You’re bull-headed but,” His words snapped me out of my little funk. “You’re also commendably brave. Not everybody would jump in and try to save that girl, like you did earlier.”

_H-He knew?_ I thought, a little surprised.

“You’re also loud and speak your mind, but,” He sighed. “That’s not a bad thing.” He directed his attention to the darkened, starry sky.

When I followed his gaze up, I was met with a bright, beautiful full moon hanging in the vast expanse of lights. I looked back toward Kouga, the glowing ball of white reflected in his eyes.

“The moon tonight is pretty.” He mumbled beneath his breath.

_It sure is._ I heard myself think in the back of my mind.

It stayed like that for a few more long moments, the forest around us as quiet as can be aside from the soft swish of the breeze through the leaves and grass.

Kouga soon took his attention off the stars and glimpsed the dying embers of the fire.

“I’ll add some more wood to the fire.” He shifted his legs and stood.

I also jumped to my feet. “No, it’s alright! I’ll get it, you’ve done a lot today already.” I walked over and met him near the fire.

“It’s fine, I got it.” He protested.

“No, I do. Just go sit down.”

“No, _you_.” He persisted.

Somehow, we ended up arguing again and tugging the logs back and forth between us. At some point, I yanked too forcefully on the sticks Kouga held, and they easily slid from his grasp. I began to tumble backwards toward the flickering flames. And while barely burning, flames were flames, and they were sure to burn.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and braced for the impact and hurt. But instead of the hard ground and heat of the fire, I felt Kouga’s hand grab my shoulder and pull me from my original course down. But I could feel him lose balance as well, and tumble down along with me.

Once the world had stilled and I’d been laying on the ground for a few seconds already, I slowly opened my eyes to examine my situation. I drew in a sharp gasp; my heart began thundering and my eyes shot wide open when I glimpsed Kouga, just bare inches from my face, staring down at me.

He was on his elbows and knees over me, also completely frozen in place. His lips were slightly parted, and eyes agape, his icy blue irises etching themselves into my mind. His long ponytail fell past his head and tickled my left cheek, hopefully somewhat masking the mad blush dying my cheeks. Speaking of blush, his face was also painted a deep red. Like, REALLY red.

We both were shocked into silence, like we’d fallen into a pocket of space and time where we’re both unable to move on and unable to go back. Unreachable by any other part of the galaxy, in our own space, our own world. I was trying to read his mind, see if I could pierce that harsh exterior through his eyes, but they remained a murky mystery.

Eventually after what felt like an eternity, I realized I was holding my breath and released it. “K-Kouga.” I murmured.

He jumped, like he didn’t realize I was capable of speech. “S-Sorry—” He quickly scrambled off of me and looked away to the right; obviously avoiding the possibility of looking me in the eyes again.

I wasn’t one to talk though, I too looked away to the left, studying a nearby and very plain bush. _Thank goodness… I thought my heart would burst._ I slowly raised an arm and rested my hand over my racing heart. _What’s with this… Feeling…?_ I nervously wondered.

After a minute or two, Kouga broke the piercing silence. “It’s getting late, we should rest. We’ll head out first thing.” He puttered away and to a nearby tree, where he sat down and hung his head as if attempting to relax.

“R-Right.” I replied curtly.

I scooted back to the tree I laid against prior, hoping Kouga wasn’t able to hear the rapid beating of my heart with his wolf demon senses. My face felt hot, and my mind was whirring with activity.

Even as hours came to pass, I wasn’t able to fall asleep. The forest was still and dead quiet; even the slightest flitting of a fly could be heard yards away. I had wrapped myself in the large kimono the others left me with, snuggling into it like I used to do with my favorite stuffed animals when I was little.

I sent Kouga a little glance, curious to see if he had fallen asleep yet. I couldn’t really tell though, his head hung far enough down that his bangs shielded his eyes. Plus, he still seemed tense, but he’d been a pretty tense person since I’d met him so maybe that was just characteristic of him.

I sighed. _For some reason, I really want to see his eyes again._ I rested the side of my head against my knees that were still tucked up against me, and gazed at him. _Since when could guys be so pretty?_ I thought to myself, sighing.

_Wait a second—_ I abruptly interrupted my own thoughts. _What the heck am I thinking?!_ I shook my head back and forth, in an attempt to snap myself out of whatever thought I’d almost dared to continue. _I can’t go getting suddenly attached to someone from here…_ Something painful pinched my heart as I finished that thought. _I have to find a way home, as soon as I can._

In the end, I decided to try my best to fall asleep. It’d be hell if I ended up with none; I had another long day ahead of me tomorrow. I laid down on my side, tucked my folded hands beneath my head, and closed my eyes. I was only resting for a few minutes when a pungent odor flooded my nose.

I sat up and began coughing, whatever I was breathing in made my throat dry and itchy. It didn’t take long before I recognized what the smell was, though: smoke.

_Is the forest…?_ I quickly scanned greenery around us, but instead of burning trees, I spotted a bright glow off in the distance, smoke rising above it in large, black clouds. _That’s where…!_

Before I could finish my thought, I immediately fought off the sleepiness plaguing me and scrambled to my feet. Grabbing my kodachi and tying the green kimono around my waist, I heard Kouga call out to me just as I picked up a sprint to hurry back to the village.

“What the heck are doing?”

“The village is on fire!” I yelled as I ran away.

I could hear Kouga running somewhere behind me as well, and before long he had caught up to me.

“Here, this’ll be faster.” Kouga took my arm mid-run and swept my legs out from underneath me.

If the situation weren’t so dire, I may have gotten red-faced and flustered all over again; but my mind was pre-occupied. Instead, after he’d successfully heaved me up into his arms, I braced myself against his chest as he sped off with unbelievable velocity. He left whirlwinds in his wake.

A minute later we arrived at the village, and what I saw horrified me. Left and right, buildings were burning and crumbling; turning to ash as fast as the fire would spread. I glimpsed people lost within the carnage, fleeing their homes and running amok. Embers enveloped the village, swallowing up everything in sight within the red of their flames.

That’s when the horrifying thought crossed my mind. _Mai… And her father!_

I pushed myself from Kouga’s arms and bolted into the blazing fire of the village, towards Mai’s home.

“(Y/N)!” I heard Kouga yell behind me once I’d slipped from his grasp.

Without a single glancing over my shoulder, I replied. “I have to find Mai!” And without noticing, I’d lost him.

I finally made it to Mai’s house, only to find it collapsed and aglow with flames.

“Mai!” I cupped my hands around my mouth to project my voice as much as I was able.

“H-Here…!” I heard her weak, and hoarse voice call out.

Following the source of her voice, I finally found her, trapped beneath the heavy, fallen boards of her home. Only her head, shoulders, and arms were visible beneath the wreckage.

I hurried over to her side, and once I’d dug my fingers far enough beneath the heavy boards, I summoned every last ounce of strength within me and attempted to heave the boards off of her. Mai watched me hopefully, her face contorted with pain. The longer I tried helping her though, the more I saw the hope drain from her delicate features.

“M-My father… He…” Mai began to speak through gritted teeth and tears.

“No, don’t try speaking,” I stopped her. Unfortunately, by the way she was talking, I could only guess her father didn’t meet a kinder fate. “Save your strength, you’ll need to move quick once I get this board off of you.”

After one more intense heave, I clicked my tongue and looked around to see if there was anyone near enough to hear me and help. Most everybody close enough quickly hurried away, and others seemed too injured themselves to assist me. Not even Kouga seemed to have found me yet. As luck would have it though, I noticed one man close by. He seemed to be riddled with shock and utter confusion, but maybe if I snapped him out of it for long enough…

“Hey, you!” I yelled as loud as I could.

The man jumped, he’d heard me. He looked around erratically, frantically searching for where my voice came from.

“Hey! Over here!” He finally made eye contact with me. “Come help me, quick!”

Though he still seemed somewhat mentally jumbled, he rushed over to Mai’s other side without question and helped me heave the boards up just enough to allow Mai to crawl out from beneath. The stranger and I dropped the boards once Mai was clear of them, and then I immediately rushed to her side. She seemed to be in excruciating pain, and when I asked where she hurt, she pointed to her leg.

“I-I think I—!” She yelped and began shaking violently.

“M-Mai!!” I screamed.

“Move aside!” I heard the stranger command. “She’s seizing, we need to roll her over onto her side.”

I instinctively moved out of the man’s way, and watched as he pushed her onto her side. My face grew pale as I notice a white foam begin spilling from her mouth. The man must’ve noticed my expression, because he was quick to comfort me.

“Don’t worry, this is normal. She needs to be on her side so she doesn’t choke on it.”

I looked up towards him, but he had already returned his attention to Mai. I could see more of his face now; he was pretty handsome with dark brown hair that ran down to the bottom of his neck, and bangs that parted in the middle. His eyes were a deep hazel, but it was hard to tell when lit up by the orange and red light from the blaze around us.

Also redirecting my attention to Mai, I noticed she’d ceased convulsing and became unconscious. “M-Mai!” I grabbed her shoulder and tried shaking her awake.

The stranger grabbed my hand and spoke gently. “Don’t, she’s still alive. She’s just asleep.” He let go of my hand and looked at Mai. “We have to get her out of here though, it’s not safe.”

I nodded and helped him get Mai up, pushing her arms over both of our shoulders.

As we made our way out of the burning heat of the village, I glanced up at the man and couldn’t help but let curiosity get the best of me. “Who are you? A doctor?”

The man didn’t look at me, but he smiled sweetly in response. “Yes, I am. My name is Suikotsu.”

“I-I see…” _A doctor in this place?_ “What are you doing here? I mean, finding a doctor here of all places…”

“Yes, I arrived here only a few weeks ago. I’d been staying here ever since.” He explained.

“Do you know how this happened then?” I prodded, referring to the fire engulfing the village.

When I asked the question, his face twisted slightly in anguish. “I… I’m not sure…” The last thing I remember was standing amidst the flames. And then you calling to me…”

_Waking up in the middle of all this? Now, that’s suspicious._ I thought.

I winced a little at the growing flames and sparks that bounced our way from the sides of our path. Shortly after the end of our curt conversation, we reached the edge of the village and far away enough to lay Mai down in a cool, soft area.

“(Y/N)!” I heard a comfortingly familiar voice call out to me.

I turned and flashed him a wide smile. “Kouga!”

Kouga too, burst forth from the flames; it seemed he’d gone in after me. “I was looking for you everywhere! The smoke was too thick to track you.”

He screeched to a halt by my side, tossing Suikotsu a questioning glance. Suikotsu noticed and looked away nervously.

“He’s alright, Kouga.” I coaxed. “He helped me save Mai and get out of the village.”

Though Kouga didn’t respond, and he didn’t completely let his guard down either, he didn’t press the matter any further. I was thankful.

“(Y)-(Y/N) …” I heard Mai’s silent, weak voice muster.

When I looked back to Mai, her eyes were slightly opened, and she was looking up at the sky, as if too weak to turn her neck around enough to see me. Her breathing was short and labored, both raspy and choked up.

“Don’t try to speak too much.” I rested my hand over hers and squeezed it. That’s what Mom used to always do when I was upset or hurting.

“M-My… My leg…” She managed to utter.

“R-Right.” I remembered her mentioning that earlier as well, before she started seizing up.

When I looked back toward Suikotsu, I noticed him removing a small jar from his robe.

“What’s that?” I asked as he held it out for me to take.

“Try getting her to drink it, it’ll help with the pain.” I took the small jar and nodded. “I need to look at her leg, I’m guessing it’s broken.”

I could feel sweat begin pooling down the sides of my face.

“(Y/N), I don’t like this.” Kouga had knelt down next to me and whispered.

“What’s ‘this’?” I murmured back.

“His smell… It’s practically identical to Kyokotsu’s. An odor of old bones and graveyard soil…”

I furrowed my eyebrows as I thought about it. _That’s right, even his name is suspiciously similar to Kyokotsu’s. And his story is just too good to be true…_

I nodded my head to Kouga and pushed him aside a little to start helping Mai take the medicine. “I don’t think it seems right either, but…” I gulped. “It’s the only option we have right now to save Mai… And I know it sounds weird, but I don’t sense any malicious intentions from this guy right now.”

Kouga’s gaze lingered on me for a while longer, before removing it with a ‘tch’.

Mai finished drinking the medicine, and I turned to Suikotsu to ask what I should do next. But I became a little uneasy when I read the expression on his face.

He’d removed Mai’s kimono from the knees down, revealing a bloody and ugly gouge in her back-right calf. Suikotsu’s eyes were wide and bloodshot, and he was pressing both of his hands against his face in a preserving manner.

“Mr. Suikotsu…?” I mumbled. “Are you maybe not good with blood?” I knew that was a dumb thing to assume, considering he was a doctor, but that was the only thing I could think of.

His face grew pale, and thinking he was going to faint I reached out to catch him. But I felt Kouga snatch me by the waist and pull be back just in time, right before Suikotsu lunged at me with a pair of claws drawn from his obi.

_Wh…Wha—?_ My heart nearly stopped when I saw the shiny glint of Suikotsu’s metal claws.

“I knew something about this guy wasn’t right.” Kouga growled. He pulled me behind him and barked at Suikotsu. “Hey, what’s the big idea?”

Looking at Suikotsu’s face now, it was twisted with psychotic glee; causing me to shudder with sudden fear. The innocence and pure intentions I’d sensed from him before were now gone without a trace. He leveled eyes with Kouga, and then turned toward the burning village, an even wider grin spreading across his pale lips.

“Too bad I missed the show.” He chuckled darkly and turned back to Kouga. “That damn doctor took over the moment things were getting good. But surely you, demon, can entertain me now?” He pointed his claw-like weapon at Kouga.

Unconsciously, I reached out and grabbed the fur Kouga wore around his wrist, but he pulled away from my grasp and took a step towards Suikotsu. For some reason, that made my heart break the tiniest bit.

“You’re on.” He cracked his knuckles. “If you think you can last five seconds that is.”

“Perfect.” Suikotsu laughed before glancing down toward Mai. My blood ran cold. “First things first, though.”

Suikotsu drew back his claws, and just before he could strike – I felt my legs begin moving before I had time to realize what I was doing. I lunged past Kouga, and directly over Mai in order to intercept Suikotsu’s blow.

“(Y/N)!” Kouga shouted.

As Suikotsu brought his claws down toward us, I put my hands out toward him as a bright light erupted from them. When the light dissipated, Suikotsu was a few more steps back, shielding his face with his arms from my attack.

_Feels like I’m finally getting the hang of this thing…_ I thought, clenching my fists.

“Are you crazy?!” I heard Kouga gripe from a few meters away.

I could feel a vein pulse in my temple. “Now is _not_ the time!” I fired back vigorously.

“Wh-What—!” Suikotsu stammered. He was trembling, but not with fear. With _rage_. “How dare you… I’ll _kill_ you!” Before anybody else could react, Suikotsu drew back his claws once more.

Before he could bring them down this time, though, Kouga landed a kick that collided with Suikotsu’s chest, sending him flying backward.

“Are you _crazy_?!” Kouga turned and reprimanded me once more.

A little upset and angered, I yelled back. “So, what if I am?! I’m not going to let her die!”

Kouga didn’t look at me, but with a serious expression and calm eyes, he turned and I could’ve sworn I heard him mumble. “I know.” Without another word, Kouga lunged forward and launched a flurry of attacks against Suikotsu, too fast to be seen.

While he kept Suikotsu at bay, I took Mai into my lap and tried to keep her comfortable. I pushed stray strands of hair away from her face, and wiped the sweat from her fair skin.

She tried to speak again, her voice painful and hoarse. “My… My leg…” I guessed the pain killer hadn’t set in yet.

I nodded and set her head down softly while I moved down to examine her calf. I pushed the kimono aside and looked over and studied the bloody gouge. It must’ve been made by the fallen beams of her house, and the outside of the wound looked singed by the fire.

_I don’t think stitches could even fix this…_ I thought. _What can I do? Amputate? No… There’s nothing to cauterize the wound effectively, and with Suikotsu here, it’ll be near impossible._

I risked a glance over to Kouga and Suikotsu again. Suikotsu was still standing his ground; he was giving Kouga a good fight.

_Damn!_ I cursed. _He must be a part of that group of bandits Kyokotsu was with… I should’ve noticed it earlier. I’m sure Kouga’s noticed it by now as well._

Kouga looked like he was actually getting a little worn out from battling, which made me worried. How could a human have been _that_ strong? He’s ten times the problem that Kyokotsu proved to be.

I continued to watch the battle, praying and praying that Kouga would be able to beat him soon so we could leave and find Mai help. But, I felt my prayers whisked away in moments. While Kouga ducked backwards to avoid a blow from Suikotsu’s claws, Suikotsu kicked out his feet from beneath him and drew his claws back to strike while he was down.

Everything that came next happened so fast. I instinctively tried rising to my feet and calling out to him, but before I could get a word out or stand all the way up, I felt sharp, cold metal blade fly past my shoulder. A searing pain began sprouting from my upper arm, and I couldn’t help but let a high shriek escape my throat.

I collapsed down to my knees and clutched my arm. Looking over at it, the sleeve was slashed and the fabric around it was blooming a bright crimson. _What…? What was… That?_

Eyes wide and body shaking, I turned around slowly to identify my attacker.

“(Y/N)!” Kouga yelled. Thank goodness he’d survived Suikotsu’s blow.

Able to finally focus on the strange silhouette a ways behind me, I was able to make out a man with dark brown hair tied up in a messy bun. Violet lines streaked down below his eyes, and a terrifying, blood-thirsty smirk lit up his face. He wore light purple garments that resembled women’s clothes and held a sword over his shoulder that was painted with what I could only assume was my blood.

“What a pity, my aim must be off.” The stranger pouted; causing a sharp chill to run up my spine. “I was hoping to finish off the women quickly, so I could go have some fun with that handsome boy toy over there.” A soft, dark giggle emanated from him. He readjusted his sword over his shoulder. “Oh well, I’ll have to make this fast, I suppose.”

The stranger lifted the sword from his shoulder, brought it back, and then with all the strength he had, he flung it forward. The sword extended like a snake, other blades appearing from it and zig zagging across the short expanse – straight toward me.

“(Y/N)!!” I heard Kouga yell one more time.

I was frozen with fear, my body refused to move. The last thing I remembered was the glint of silver, and the iron-like smell of fresh blood coating my senses.


	9. The Band of Seven and my Wrath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As you battle it out with three members of the Band of Seven, you lose yourself in something dormant deep within you. What will happen if you give in to its control?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for tuning in again! I personally enjoyed writing this chapter very much, and I'm very proud of myself for being able to be so detailed! Once again I do appreciate the comments, so feel free to leave one! Constructive criticism is always welcomed!!

**Chapter 9: The Band of Seven and My Wrath**

The world felt chilling, and quiet. Behind me, the blaze engulfing the village was still roaring; Kouga and Suikotsu entangled just outside of it, locked deep in battle. Somewhere, I could still hear Kouga calling out my name – but the sound was drowned in my subconsciousness; blocked out by this overwhelming feeling of _rage_ burning its way through me.

My chest and torso felt wet, moist with a thick, hot substance that coated every front-facing facet; some of it even painting my face. With slow, shaking hands, I reached up and gently caressed the sides of my face. My hair was matted with the thick liquid, and the longer I messed with it, the more it pooled into the palms of my burned, bruised hands.

My eyes were struck wide with agony, as I stared at the lifeless lump of flesh sprawled out across my lap. It shared Mai’s long, dark hair, her eyes, and her pale cheeks. From beneath its lashes sprung now ceasing fountains of tears, running all the way down her face and onto my kimono where it soaked, scarring deep into the fabric. In the back of her head was a large gouge, one to match the one in her calf. This one however was deeper, much fresher, and much bloodier. And most importantly, this one was made by a blade, not a fallen beam.

Ahead of me, the stranger irritatingly clicked his tongue. “Ahh, missed again. Though I suppose that gets one out of the way.” He complained.

I could feel the anguish and frustration welling up in me like a boiling kettle. Why did they have to take Mai away from me? When I could’ve saved her? Why? Before yesterday, she had nothing to do with Kouga and I. She was innocent, free of crime and consequence. She had nothing to do with the mess we were in.

Almost subconsciously, I took my right hand and rested it on the hilt of my kodachi, that hung from my obi on my left hip. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and gripped it tightly.

“Oh?” I could hear the leer present in his voice. “Do you intend to fight me, little girl?” He knelt down mockingly, as if to get down on my level. “While I admit I don’t believe you’ll be much of a challenge, it will certainly make killing you that much more fun.” He raised his sword and licked its blade, stained with my and Mai’s blood. “I’ll give you the first hit.”

“(Y/N)! Don’t listen to him, he’s just trying to get a rise out of you!” Kouga shouted over the rumbling chaos in my head. He thwarted one of Suikotsu’s attacks, allowing him more time to continue. “Find an opening and run!”

Once more, the stranger chuckled darkly. “Be patient wolf boy, Jakotsu, slayer of men, will be with you soon enough.” He got back to his feet and pushed his frightening sword up to rest on his shoulder. “Just got to take care of your little friend first.” He said, glancing down at me.

Right then, I felt a nerve burst. Faster than the eye could visibly see, I launched from my place on the ground with Mai’s corpse, toward Jakotsu, leaving broken up earth in my wake. Just before my drawn kodachi could come into contact with his body, Jakotsu brought down his own sword just in time and blocked my attack. Dust and debris swirled around us as a result of the collision; our hair flew back due to the intense winds, and our garments flapped violently in the force. Against Jakotsu’s sword, my kodachi glowed with a blazingly white light, granting it strength and power. My eyes were burning.

A psychotically gleeful smile spread across Jakotsu’s face as each of our swords fought for dominance. “Got more tricks up more sleeve than I thought, huh?” He snarled and adjusted his stance beneath my blow. “You’re not even human, are you?” He retorted.

_What?_ I heard myself think somewhere deep inside me. Instinctively, I backed off and leapt a distance away. _Me…? Of course, I’m human… What else could I be…?_ Though, as my hand trembled on the hilt of my sword, I knew I wasn’t fully in control in the moment. Something _else_ was.

“Ohh,” Jakotsu jeered. “Did I offend you? Or maybe,” He smirked. “You didn’t know it yourself?”

His words caused my heart to jolt with confusion. Behind me, I could feel Kouga’s unsettled eyes, boring sharply into my back. He was probably just as confused as I was, if not even more. I bit my lip, struggling to keep myself from impulsively attacking Jakotsu again; it was much more difficult than some would think. My muscles were burning with tension, and my head was spinning with anger and frustration.

“Pfft—!” Jakotsu erupted into cackling laughter, tears practically collecting at the corners of his eyes. “While I don’t know exactly what you are,” He began to gather himself. “The fact that you’re un ugly _woman_ means I can’t let you leave alive.”

Suddenly, I heard Kouga howl in pain, his gruff voice splitting the air around me. I felt my body move before I could think, turning to launch an offensive blow against Suikotsu, knowing he was the one who caused Kouga to shriek. I wasn’t sure why I instinctively did this, all I knew was that I wanted to protect Kouga. My current animalistic mind thought of him as something precious, something to keep safe.

Before I could do anything though, Jakotsu quickly intercepted me and used his sword to thwart my attack. Not expecting to be suddenly obstructed, I was thrown back, my sword flying from my hand. Without hesitation, Jakotsu lunged forward and slashed my torso open. Blood sprayed everywhere, soaking my clothes more than they already were. I let out a horrific screamed, my face twisted with an indescribable pain.

“(Y/N)— (Y/N)!!” I heard Kouga desperately yell.

When I hit the ground, I tried to stand again; but before I could manage, Jakotsu’s heel hit my chest and knocked me onto my back. I reached up and wrapped my trembling fingers around his ankle, attempting to raise and push him off – but my strength was beginning to fail me.

“Ah, all out of your juice already, huh? What a let-down.” He pressed down harder with his heel, digging into my chest. “You really are nothing but an animal, not even your eyes are human anymore.”

_M-My eyes?_ I could feel my heartrate speed up. _What the hell is he talking about…!_ I gritted my teeth angrily quietly growled.

When I didn’t respond with words, Jakotsu seemed to grow bored quickly. He rolled his eyes and groaned. “Guess that’s that then.” Jakotsu lifted his foot and kicked me hard and fast across my jaw, causing me to spit up globs of blood and retreat to a trembling, fetal position on the ground. Jakotsu spun around and started to stroll off toward Suikotsu’s and Kouga’s battle. “Well then, I better go introduce myself to your friend. I’m getting shivers just thinking about it…!” He hugged himself while a light blush painted his cheeks.

Though it hurt like hell, and each little movement felt like my body might tear itself a part at any second, I pushed through the excruciating pain and pushed myself up from the ground. My fingers dug into the earth, and as luck might have it, I noticed my kodachi laying nearby. I glanced at Jakotsu, oblivious to my intentions and continuing his walk toward Kouga. Slowly, and as quietly as I could, I reached out and took the hilt of my sword back into my hand. Gripping it tightly, I eyed Jakotsu’s open back, and felt whatever was controlling me in the moment, take the chance to take him down.

I leapt up with the remaining strength I could muster, and flew towards the unsuspecting Jakotsu. What I wasn’t expecting though, was to be met with a monstrously huge, steel sword flying my direction. Just before I was caught in its war path, I managed to narrowly dodge the assault. The halberd jutted past me and landed with a _boom_ , stuck in the ground next to me.

Jakotsu glanced over his shoulder at me, and then at the large sword. He seemed neither bothered nor startled by anything, which ticked me off a little bit. “Well, looks like you _do_ still have a little life left in you.” He leered.

“Jakotsu,” A new, young male voice called from the direction the halberd appeared. “What have I told you about getting ahead of yourself?” He sounded calm, yet domineering. “You have to finish the job before moving on to the next.”

“Ahh! But dear Bankotsu, it was taking _much_ too long!” Jakotsu whined childishly.

My eyes were still examining the gigantic halberd next to me, struggling to focus. _Ban…kotsu? Another of the Band of Seven…?_ I redirected my attention to the owner of the new, strange voice; a young man with long, braided raven hair and tan skin, with a purple cross decorating the center of his forehead. His eyes were a dark blue, similar to that of the ocean’s color. He was clothed in a white kimono with blue markings, and wore extravagant armor decorated with dark purple fern-like etchings. A red sash was tied just below his chest plate. If the situation weren’t such a horrible one, I might’ve commented on his more handsome qualities.

Jakotsu clicked his tongue in vexation. “Fine then!” He then turned and began a path back toward me. “I’ll make sure to kill her this time—!”

Bankotsu raised his arm and blocked Jakotsu from resuming. He casted me an eerie smile, causing my body to begin shaking uncontrollably. Unlike his other three comrades I’d become acquainted with, this man’s aura chilled the very air about him. My very instincts screamed at me to run.

I spared a quick look at Kouga, across the small field. He was still pitted against Suikotsu, and while he seemed to be giving Suikotsu a run for his money, he wasn’t doing well. A deep, bloody gash was visible across his shoulder, probably the reason he had yelled earlier. He was panting heavily and seemed incredibly worn out; I was unsure how much longer he’d be able to last.

I returned my attention back toward Bankotsu, who was still giving me a chilling, yet creepily satisfied look. I knew for a fact I wasn’t any match for this guy, but I also knew that I didn’t want to leave Kouga behind to die.

“Bankotsu? What’s up?” Jakotsu queried Bankotsu’s actions.

Bankotsu let his arm fall back to his side as he took one intimidating step toward me. “Leave this one to me. Go have fun.”

Jakotsu grew giddy and almost seemed to dance in place for a moment. “Ban—!” He exclaimed. “You’re the best!” He twirled away and practically skipped toward Kouga.

Instinctively, I lunged to stop him, but Bankotsu immediately blocked my path, freezing me in my tracks. “Now then,” He said in a low, controlled voice. “What kind of monster are _you_?”

I could feel the empty pit in my stomach grow heavy. A sick feeling filled me, and I couldn’t help but feel fear for the man standing in front of me. He took one more step toward me, causing me to instinctively leap back a few more yards.

“Oh?” He mocked. “I’ve never met a demon who was too afraid to throw a punch.” He smirked. “You’ve got good instincts.”

He walked up a few more steps, until he was next to his sword, but this time I remained grounded. I tossed a glance toward his halberd, expecting him to take hold of it any second.

Bankotsu must’ve noticed my uneasiness. “Does Banryu bother you?” He was still smiling. “No worries, I won’t need Banryu to deal with you.”

I dug my feet into the earth, bracing for any impact that was to come. And sure enough, Bankotsu lowered and steadied himself, and without any warning, shot forward and showered me with several kicks and punches.

Due to the new circumstances my body somehow fell under, I managed to dodge the majority of them. However, the few that did happen to land dealt heavy damage. Bleeding out from my torso didn’t make matters any better.

Soon enough, he sent me flying, and I collided with a nearby tree, my back taking on the force of the collision. I crumpled to the ground, my limbs seething with pain. I tried to force my body to stand again, but it seemed I’d reached my limit.

I could hear Bankotsu casually making his way closer, moving through the dirt and the dry grass. Farther away I could hear remnants of Kouga’s battle with Jakotsu and Suikotsu as well; it didn’t sound good.

Bankotsu stopped in front of me and knelt down. “Now then,” He hooked a strong finger beneath my chin and pulled my head far enough up to look at him. Though my vision was obscured and blurry from the copious amount of blood loss and fatigue, I could tell he was only inches away. “What shall we do with you?” His voice was sleek and merciless.

My head was pounding and I felt that this man would decide to kill me in any of the coming moments. But I was wrong; instead, once he’d gotten a good look at me, he grunted a little in recognition and turned my head this way and that, getting a good look at me. “What do you know…”

Bankotsu dropped my head and stood to call out to his comrades. “Jakotsu! We’re leaving!”

“Whaaat?!” Jakotsu protested. “But you said—!!”

“Plans have changed. Let Suikotsu take care of him, he can’t last much longer.” Their shouting voices sounded like echoes bouncing around inside of my head now. Everything was pulsing with pain, and I could barely feel my legs or arms.

Jakotsu approached sluggishly, dragging his feet across the ground as he did. “Bann!” He griped. “What could _possibly_ be more important than my needs?”

“Her. We’re taking this one with us.” He stated.

Jakotsu was silent for a moment more. “Hah? What significance does she hold?” He sounded utterly lost.

“Naraku wants her; or at the very least wants her under surveillance.” He turned back toward me, as I began slowly fading into unconsciousness.

The last thing I remembered feeling was being heaved over someone’s shoulder and carried off. The sound of Kouga’s and Suikotsu’s battle began fading into the distance, as I completely slipped away into the dark and quiet.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)!!” Kouga yelled until Suikotsu tried landing another hit against him again. “ _Damn_ you!” He cursed, kicking Suikotsu in the chest and pushing him away.

He keeled over in sudden pain, resting his hands on his knees to keep himself upright. Hacking violently, blood spilt from his mouth down onto his beat-up palms and chest.

Staring down at the small, crimson puddle in his hand, Kouga clicked his tongue. “Damn it all…” He snarled.

“What’s the matter, demon?” Suikotsu jeered. “A mere human too much for you to handle?”

Kouga shot him a look of sharp daggers. “Where—” He winced at the pain before continuing. “Where did your allies take her…!” He was doing everything in his power to mask the pain.

“Oh,” Suikotsu sneered. “That woman? Hell, if I know.” He laughed. “But I’ll level with you just a little bit, demon.” Suikotsu dug into the dirt and took on another fighting stance. “She’ll be lucky if she lives to see morning.”

Kouga snapped. As he eyed his enemy, he lunged forward and swung at Suikotsu, the bandit easily dodging all of his attempted attacks. Once Kouga gave him an accidental, free opening, Suikotsu took it and struck him hard in the abdomen. Kouga was thrown backwards, collapsing hard against the scattered rocks and dry dirt. Kouga howled in excruciating pain.

“I can read you like an open book.” Suikotsu cackled as he strode over to Kouga’s side. “You’re so distraught by your lover being taken away, that you can’t even focus on what’s right in front of you.” Suikotsu slammed his foot hard onto Kouga’s chest, pinning him down.

Kouga yelled, raised a hand, and swiped at Suikotsu’s legs with his claws. Suikotsu moved out of the way just before he could be struck, though. “She isn’t… My lover…!” Kouga curled over and clutched at the part of his torso Suikotsu had hit earlier.

“Could’ve fooled me.” Suikotsu said, standing not far away, casually resting his right hand on his hip. “Well, then,” He lifted his claws and leered at Kouga, weak and crippled.

Slowly at first, Suikotsu began approaching him again.

_Damn… I don’t think I can beat him…!_ Kouga tried pushing himself from the ground, thinking of any last-ditch attempt he could make to somehow avoid dying.

But by the time he’d barely risen a few inches off the ground, Suikotsu was only a couple of meters away, and it seemed it was too late to try anything. Now in front of Kouga, Suikotsu drew his claws back threateningly.

“Any last words, demon?” Suikotsu mocked.

Despite the worry and frustration that riddled his face before, a small grin crept onto Kouga’s face suddenly, and a dark shadow veiled it. “Well, _I_ don’t,” He chuckled darkly and looked up to meet Suikotsu’s gaze. “But _you_ might want to think of one, fast.”

“Wha—?” But before Suikotsu could finish his thought, a large, familiar sword with a furry hilt was thrusted down upon him, downing him with a single, powerful blow.

Once he’d quit twitching, Suikotsu lay bloody and disfigured beneath the weight of the blade, and eventually his remains began evaporating away, leaving only bones and a single sacred jewel shard.

“’Bout time you showed up…you…mutt…” The strength that Kouga had been using to hold himself up suddenly dissipated, and he collapsed back to the ground.

The large sword atop Suikotsu began glowing with a golden light, and as it shrank back into a normal-sized katana, a certain white-haired half-demon appeared from behind it. “Thought I smelled a dying wolf.” He retorted.

“Kouga!” Kagome ran out from behind Inuyasha, and hurried to Kouga’s side. Kneeling down and slipping off her yellow backpack, she continued. “Roll over and let me see your wounds.” She unzipped her bag and pulled out some gauze and topical medicine from its contents.

Conceding to her demand, Kouga allowed Kagome to go to work patching him up. Sango and Miroku also emerged from the nearby forestry, the flaming village immediately being the first thing to catch their attention. The embers were still roaring, though an hour had already passed.

Sango’s eyebrows furrowed worriedly as a small line of sweat ran down her cheek. “What happened here?”

“Our pal here… Did it…” Kouga managed to hack out hoarsely. He motioned to Suikotsu’s pile of remains.

“Don’t speak, Kouga. Save your strength.” Kagome coaxed, as she finished up bandaging one shoulder.

“How horrible.” Miroku added. “Once the fire is out, we should find the deceased villagers’ bodies and help bury them.” He held one hand up in a vertical, straight form, casting a silent prayer over the burning village.

“Like we’ve got time for that!” Inuyasha complained. “There’s still more jewel shards we need to collect, we don’t have time for petty matters like that! They can bury their own dead.”

Miroku scowled lightly. “Inuyasha, you needn’t be so heartless.”

Sango nodded. “I agree with Miroku. And it looks like we need to stay and care for Kouga anyways as well. We’ll have time.” That statement hurt Kouga’s pride a little, but he knew he’d be dead if it weren’t for them.

Inuyasha clicked his tongue. “Fine then. But there’s still one thing that’s bothering me.” He turned around and sent Kouga a cold, icy look. “Where the hell is (Y/N), wolf?”

Kouga looked away and gritted his teeth, trembling with guilt and shame. When he remained silent, Inuyasha tried prodding one more time, but Kagome stopped him.

“Inuyasha, can’t you see he’s hurt? Give him some time!”

Inuyasha groaned. “Well we might not have much time, Kagome! This place stinks of blood— including (Y/N)’s!”

Kagome’s eyes widened at Inuyasha’s comment, as she returned her attention to Kouga, who was still avoiding their eyes. In the midst of everything, she hadn’t had the time to think about that yet. She almost thought that Kouga might’ve left her somewhere safe nearby, while he’d fought off the bandits. But the expression on his face read otherwise.

Kouga used as much of his strength as he could muster, and pushed himself up to a sitting position. He took one of Kagome’s hands into both of his own, and held it endearingly close to his chest. “It’s my fault, Kagome. She—,” It seemed difficult for him to continue. “She was taken away by two of the bandits from that infamous ‘Band of Seven’.” He clicked his tongue. “I tried to save her, but I was stopped by _him_.” He casted the pile of bones next to him a mean stare.

“What would bandits want with (Y/N)?” Sango asked as she strode over to the group.

“How should I know?” Kouga snapped, dropping Kagome’s hand and speaking up vigorously. He was visibly frustrated. “I saw their leader knock her out and then look at her face. Maybe he recognized her from somewhere— I don’t know. He called his different ally and left with him and (Y/N). I tried to stop them… I did… But I couldn’t…” Kouga looked down and clenched his fists angrily.

Kagome’s eyebrows drew up sadly, and she rested one hand on Kouga’s back. “It’s alright, Kouga. I’m sure she’s alright.” She paused for a moment, and then continued. “She’s a super strong girl, and I’m sure we’ll get her back and she’ll be just fine.”

Kouga looked further away from Kagome and scowled. This shocked Kagome a little, he wasn’t usually so cold and distant from her. He felt ashamed, angry with himself for being unable to save (Y/N) from being taken away. She’d slipped from his grasp so easily, and he was powerless to stop it. “I’m going to get her back. I swear it.” He growled darkly.

Kagome nodded, agreeing. “First though, you have to get better. You can’t go blindly charging in in your condition.”

Kouga simply gritted his teeth in response, it would be a while before he cooled off enough to think straight again.

Once she’d finished bandaging him up, Kagome stepped away and picked up the jewel shard that laid among Suikotsu’s remains. While she examined it, Miroku approached her side.

“It would seem that the power of the sacred jewel brought him back to life.” He looked toward Kagome. “The other shards you sensed fleeing must’ve been his allies. I’m assuming they’re under the same circumstances as him.”

“It’s not like they could’ve been the ones who brought themselves back to life either.” Sango included. “Which means somebody else is behind this.”

Everybody, minus Kouga, exchanged knowing glances. Inuyasha was the first to break the silence. “Who else could it be? Naraku is obviously the one behind it.” Everyone’s hearts sank the tiniest bit in uneasiness.

“Naraku…” Kouga breathed. “I wanted to kill him before for slaughtering my comrades… But now, even that’s too good for him…” The light in Kouga’s eyes dissipated for a moment as he spoke.

But as if on cue, Inuyasha dropped low next to Kouga and gave him a good long look. Upon noticing his actions, Kouga started to seem like he was becoming visibly uncomfortable with this, and then without warning, Inuyasha raised a couple of fingers to his forehead and flicked it, a lot harder than normal forehead flicks should normally be.

Kouga was in shock at first, as well as everyone else around him. Finally, when he’d gathered his wits, he yelled. “What the _hell_ is your problem, mutt?! I should break your hand!”

Inuyasha scoffed. “Well, quit acting so gloomy and use that small brain of yours for once, then!” Inuyasha snapped back.

Kouga was taken aback for a moment. “What— What do you mean?”

“I’m saying that if they wanted to kill her, then they would’ve killed her right then and there! Not taken her.” Kouga thought about it for a moment or two as Inuyasha continued. “Obviously, it’s either their ring-leader or Naraku who wants her for something.”

Kagome let out a short gasp behind them. “Do you think…?” Everyone looked at her. “That thing we saw (Y/N) do to Naraku, Inuyasha. Back in my time, using that light?”

Kouga recognized what she was referring to. “I saw her do that a couple of times too.” He added. “But I don’t think…she knew what she was doing.” Kouga stared off as he thought about it.

He thought back to when (Y/N) had lost control of herself, when her friend had died trying to protect her. Her aura changed, her scent changed, and the bloodlust inside of her had surged. Kouga could hardly recognize her then.

“Well whether it _is_ that that Naraku wants or not, we’re still going to get her back.” The rest of the group was quick to agree with Inuyasha. Kouga did too. “We’ll head out as soon as possible.”


	10. Naraku and the Tainted Jewel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up inside of Naraku's castle, where he grants you a warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading! This chapter is a little shorter, but I wanted to make sure to get this one out to you guys. Thank you so much for the continuous support! Look forward to more chapters.

**Chapter 10: Naraku and the Tainted Jewel**

I felt exhausted and groggy. Cold air nipped about my skin, causing a light shiver to travel across my body. I was laying against what felt like hard, rough wooden planks; worn enough that if I moved around too much, I’d probably end up with plenty of slivers.

I winced when I felt a sharp pain like a knife pulse through my head. Instinctively, I reached up with my left hand and pressed lightly against my temple. I groaned and forced my eyelids to rise. At first, everything I could see was blurry and overlapped. But as I blinked and squinted, my gaze gradually cleared.

Everything was extremely dark and eerie; not a single torch or lamp was lit. The only light present was the early dawn’s rays that streamed in through the tattered walls and roof. The air was musty and thick, with little particles of dust floating about and coating the building’s interior. I had to cough a few times and shield my mouth with my sleeve to keep myself from inhaling it.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, trying to get a better grip on where I’m at. I definitely didn’t think I’d been there before, and the last thing I could recall was being knocked out cold by Bankotsu’s rapid attacks.

_That’s right!_ I immediately looked around to make out what I could of the place. I was expecting to see someone nearby, but to my surprise nobody was around. _I’m pretty sure I was taken away by that Bankotsu and Jakotsu, but where could they have taken me?_ I looked down at my lap worriedly. _Did… Did they leave me?_ I winced again as another sharp pain stabbed at my head.

Looking down at my clothes, I noticed they were no longer soaked with blood. In fact, I was wearing completely different garments. The kimono was a light, forest-green with an even darker green for the cuffs of its sleeves and collar. I opened the robe a little to take a little peek at my torso where Jakotsu had slashed me, but I was relieved to see no blood and bandages wrapped thickly around my wound. I had little bandages in other places, but I assumed they were extra cuts or bruises caused by Bankotsu or other things. Who could have done all this – I remember myself thinking.

Once the headache had dulled down a little, I got to my feet and decided to look around a bit. Upon exiting the room and exploring the various hallways that zig-zagged through the manor, I came to realize I was in a castle of sorts. The kind that wealthy nobleman and emperors used to live in during feudal times. Though judging by the dilapidated and run-down interior, as well as the lack of servants scurrying about, I assumed it’d been abandoned long ago.

_Is this their…hideout or something?_ I stopped and opened a door I thought may lead to an exit. And while it did lead to the outdoors, I was disappointed to find that the castle’s land was surrounded by tall walls and a closed gate. _And I somehow doubt it’s unlocked._ I sighed.

Stepping outside onto the dead grass and weeds that seemed to densely populate the ground, I walked out to where it looked like a garden may have been. Stones and pebbles were placed precariously around certain spots, where only dry dirt now remained, untended. I turned around and looked over the large mansion, and the prominent land masses jutting up behind it and on either side. It was obvious I was up somewhere in the mountains; high up where nobody else wanted to live. It was a smart place go, if you wanted to hide.

“…scared…?” I jumped; I could hear somebody close by.

I stayed as quiet as I possibly could, listening for anything else. And sure enough, I could hear what sounded like a couple people having a heated conversation close by; one woman and one man, though the man was a little harder to hear.

Deciding it probably wasn’t the smartest option to remain out in the open, I quickly tippy-toed my way back into the castle’s halls, and slid the door shut gently behind me.

“You…” The hair stood up on the back of my neck at the quiet cooing of a young girl’s silky voice.

A little frantically following its source, I found a young girl with enchanting, silver hair, dressed completely in white to my side, just a few yards off. Two pretty lilies decorated her hair, and in her hands, she held a large mirror, with ornate designs etched into its frame.

“H-Hello…” I managed to stammer out, still a little startled.

I took a small step away from the little girl, unsure of who— or _what_ she was. I figured it would be better to err on the side of caution, considering my current circumstances. The young girl continued to watch me, but she didn’t say a single word.

Feeling a little awkward, I tried being friendly. I mean, a little girl like this couldn’t possibly be bad, could she? “Wh-What’s your name?” I queried.

The girl remained silent for a few moments more, but after giving her time to think about it, she finally gave me a reply. “Kanna.”

“Ah, I see.” I let go of a breath I realized I’d been holding. “So, _Kanna_ ,” I knelt down to her level and tried to flash her a friendly smile. “Do you know what this place is? Or where we are?” Kanna nodded, which granted me a little relief. “Do you know any way I can leave, then?”

This time, Kanna denied me any response. Instead, after glancing me over with a glazed, blank look, she turned on her heel and strode away down one of the many hallways. After a few seconds of watching her leave down the hall, she paused momentarily and casted me a look over her shoulder. Instantly getting the message, I jogged to catch up with her as she continued.

_She wants me to follow her… Maybe she’s leading me to a way out?_ But I knew that’d be too easy for the kind of uncertain situation I’d landed myself in.

Once we’d rounded a few corners, we finally came up toward the room where I could hear people arguing inside. Or at the very least, the woman sounded like she was bickering. Kanna halted outside, then slowly turned and faced the door.

“Naraku, we’re here.” She calmly stated.

My heart stopped. _Naraku? Here?_ The last time I’d seen him was in my time period, before he thrust me down Kagome’s family’s well and sent me to the feudal era. _Why in the heck is he here?_ I looked down toward Kanna, who’s expression remained unreadable.

“You know,” I began, desperately searching for a way out of this situation. “I think I’ll look for a way out on my own—” But before I could turn on my heel and leave, I heard that chilling, deep voice reply to Kanna from inside.

“Enter.” It commanded, causing me to freeze in place.

As Kanna reached out and slid the door open, I began to think about running, as far away as possible. But as if picking up on my thoughts, Kanna paused and glanced at me.

“If you attempt to run,” She turned her mirror enough so as to allow me to see my own reflection. “I’ll take your soul away.”

I gulped. Despite her lifeless voice, her threats still held plenty of promise. Seeing as her words had gotten through to me, she continued opening the door and made her way in. I followed in hesitantly after her.

The room was dark like the room I’d awoken in, but unlike the last one, the air was almost toxic. It reeked of death, and it was cold enough to elicit a slight shiver from my skin. The room wasn’t horribly big, and half of it was severed in two by a curtain that fell through the middle.

On our side of the curtain, a taller woman stood with medium-length, jet-black hair tied back into a high ponytail using an aqua-colored bead and white feather. Her face was stern with ruby-red eyes and pursed lips painted a dark red. She had pointed ears similar to Kouga’s, and from them hung earrings with other aqua-colored beads and a little strip of hair.

I must’ve been staring at her too long, because she casted me a glare of ice and snapped. “What’re _you_ lookin’ at, kid?” I jumped and quickly averted my gaze.

“Sorry…” I mumbled beneath my breath.

Her mean glare remained on me a few moments more, before she too looked away, clicking her tongue. “Naraku,” She directed her attention to whoever lay beyond the vertical curtain. “Don’t forget what you promised. I’ll be waiting outside.” And with that she took her leave, slamming the door shut behind her.

After she left, I tried to peer across the curtain toward where I believed Naraku sat, based on Kagura’s behavior. My gaze grew into a cold glare, both hatred and displeasure welling up within me.

“Do I anger you that much?” Naraku asked coolly and with a smirk, as if reading my mind.

“That’s an understatement.” I aggressively retorted. I was hoping that the malice in my voice overlaid the amount of anxiety I’d also felt in the moment.

Naraku chuckled darkly. “Sit.”

I wasn’t sure what to do with that command, but after taking one look at Kanna and recalling her threat, I followed through and listened. I sat down on a nearby pillow facing Naraku, while Kanna approached the curtain and sat down in front of it.

I furrowed my eyebrows, a line of sweat appearing on the side of my cheek. My heart felt like it was running a thousand miles an hour, fearing that a single flick of this man’s wrist would spell my end.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke to me. “You needn’t be so nervous. I have no intention of hurting you. Yet.”

His last word gave me goosebumps. “I’m not nervous.” I bravely stated with shaking hands.

“Good.” I could hear the faint leer present in his deadened voice. “Now then,” I straightened up a little. “You must be wondering why I had you brought here.”

_Had me brought here? Does that mean he’s in cahoots with that Bankotsu and the others?_ Seeing as he was the last person that had me, I guessed Naraku and them were in on some sort of deal I wasn’t completely aware of. I remained silent in answer to his assumption.

But unfortunately, that only seemed to amuse him more. I could hear him sneer. “I brought you here in order to ask you something. Though based on everything that’s happened up until now, I doubt you know the answer yourself.”

I narrowed my eyes at Naraku’s silhouette, barely visible beyond the curtain. “What do you mean by that?” Whatever confidence I was trying to feign was beginning to fail me now. I could hear my nerves getting the better of me in my voice.

“You.” He stated fast, and cold. “Tell me what you are.”

Naraku stayed silent for several moments afterward, as if cuing me to give him an answer. I thought about his question, and looked down toward my hands, resting in fists on my lap. I just wanted to look at anything else but Naraku, the mere air around him was enough to make me feel sick.

Though., I somehow knew I wasn’t going to get out of this staying quiet. So, I thought back to all the times I could recall when I’d experienced the use of my newfound powers. Most duly noted was the time earlier, when I’d almost completely lost control of my body and inherited extra speed and monstrous strength from some unknown source.

During that time, in all honesty, I’d become scared of myself. I was afraid I’d hurt someone, maybe even someone that I cared for, like Kouga. Even if I’d ended up taking out Bankotsu, Jakotsu, or Suikotsu, I know I still would’ve regretted it. The idea of stealing away someone’s life like that – it was something I didn’t have the heart to stomach. I wasn’t God; I didn’t feel like I had the right to decide who lived and who died. But whatever took control in the moment Mai’s blood coated my face and arms – that thing found within me the bloodthirst I didn’t know I even had.

What happened then had never happened to me before, however. So, it was all completely foreign to me. I had not the slightest clue about what occurred, nor do I know how I did it.

“I’m sorry but,” I clenched my fists tightly. “I don’t know…what I am. Sometimes those powers come out unconsciously – and I couldn’t even control it earlier.”

“Hm.” He droned, obviously not satisfied with my answer. “Well,” I redirected my attention to Naraku, as I noticed he’d stood and walked closer to the curtain. He used his arm to push the curtain out of the way, revealing his chiseled features and crimson eyes. “You won’t be needing to worry about those powers of yours for a while.” He smiled evilly.

“Wh-What do you mean?” I tensed up as he got closer.

He stopped right in front of me, and then getting down on his knees he leaned forward and placed both of his hands on either of my shoulders. I could feel his cold breath brushing against my ear, eliciting a fearful shiver to run up my spine.

“Right here.” He took one finger and traced a small circle right below my left shoulder blade. “I gave you a sacred jewel shard, one I tainted with my blood; right here.” He retreated from my bubble, standing up again a few feet away. He looked down on me coldly, yet he seemed entertained with the look of anxiety and struggle on my face. “The jewel will ensure your powers remain dormant. So, until I decide to remove it, you will be under my control.”

I flashed him a fierce scowl. “I will never do what you want. All you want to do is make chaos and cause hurt—!”

“If you _don’t_ do what I say,” Naraku quickly interrupted me. “I can also use the jewel shard inside of you to force you to kill your friends.” That statement chilled me to the core. “And if you try to take it out, it’ll kill you before you’re able to.”

I gulped. I tried thinking of something else to say, something else that might make him rethink pulling me into his schemes – but I was at a loss. My head sank sadly, as I averted my gaze from Naraku’s.

“Good.” It seemed he recognized my silence as acknowledgement. “Kagura is waiting outside, she’ll take you back to Bankotsu. You’ll remain under his supervision for the time being.”

I excused myself and once at the door out, I paused, hesitating. My right hand was resting on the wood, and then I clenched it angrily. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t find the words to resist him. But I didn’t want my friends to get hurt, and I feared dying as well. Finally, with a weak resolve, I exited the room, slamming the door hard behind me.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

“Naraku…” Kanna began silently. Naraku glanced toward her. “Why did you lie? About being able to control her? Or kill her?”

Naraku looked away indifferently. “She’s too obstinate. I need her to think I have complete control.” He returned beyond the curtain and sat down on his pillow, eyeing Kanna precariously. “I may be able to keep her powers dormant for now, but that’ll probably only last until I’m able to find out what she is. So, I need her out of the way for now.”

Kanna remained quiet, only giving a slight nod of her head in understanding. “Is that why you’re sending her away? Instead of keeping her here? Since you’re still weakened…”

Naraku narrowed his eyes, and grunted in affirmation. “Yes, I have to tread carefully for now. Until I’m able to fully shed this human side of me.”

Kanna nodded once more.


	11. My Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You learn a little more about your past, and join up with Jakotsu and Renkotsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I'm so sorry for the delay, lots of things happening lately! Anyways thank you so much to my faithful readers <3 I look forward to posting again!

**Chapter 11: My Past**

It’d been a long time since then, but I can still envision it as clear as a looking glass within my mind. Ami hadn’t been born yet, it was just Mom, Dad, and I. It was a beautiful spring day, and the warm weather was just beginning to roll in. Dad had left home for the day on a business trip, so I was left under Mom’s care. Mom was always overjoyed to be able to spend time with me, as she was usually too busy with shrine work to be able to tend to me too often. But even with that small drawback, I was happy with the way things were.

Mom’s work at the shrine seemed incredibly important to her, so I was more than pleased to support her endeavors. I was however, always a little enamored by my mother’s dedication to the shrine. It was like there was something precious and important there that she didn’t want to let go of.

Once, I’d asked her what her fascination with the shrine was about, and she gave me an enchanting answer. She told me of her childhood, of when she’d often visited the shrine with her grandmother. There, she met a gentle, and beautiful spirit, causing my mother to immediately fall captivated by the warm light it gave off. Everyday since their meeting, my mother would go to see that spirit, and they eventually grew close. The spirit never aged, but through the years, my mother did. And soon, she found that she had grown in likeness to him. Not much time passed before she fell in love with him, and confessed. The spirit was at first ecstatic, clearly reciprocating her feelings completely. But in the moment, he quickly backed away, explaining that there was no way they’d be able to be together. He continued, saying he had an important role to fulfill; one that would soon take him away from the shrine, and away from her.

My mother always seemed to have difficulty retelling this part of the story. She’d grow visibly upset, and though she did her best to mask it with a cloudless grin, I’d always noticed the way her hands shook. Back then, when mom heard the spirit say that, she simply nodded and brushed off her accumulating sadness that accompanied her crumbling heart. They still continued seeing each other over the next years, each visit more somber than the last; until finally, the spirit announced to my mother that this one specific visit, would be the last time she’d ever get to see him. He was bidding his final farewells. Understanding how distraught and heartbroken my mother was, the spirit said he would grant her one parting gift.

Mom never told me exactly what that gift happened to be, but she claimed it was something she couldn’t bear to live without. And at the time, that was enough for me.

As the spirit left, he wished my mother a blissful life, and many happy memories. Mom said she was satisfied with just that, because even though that spirit had a very important role to take up, he still went out of his way to spend all that time with her. And she couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Not awfully long after the spirit’s and her last day together, my mother met my father and shortly after fell pregnant with me. My mom always finished that story with her usual ‘And the rest is history!’ line, but I couldn’t help but think that there was somehow more to the story.

Returning back to my initial memory, my mother decided to take part of the day to visit that very shrine; where Mom then worked as a shrine maiden, keeping the grounds and tending to its gardens. The second I entered onto the shrine’s grounds, I had a weird feeling envelope me. It wasn’t a bad one, it was a kind, reassuring one. A feeling that I belonged where I stood. I had begun to realize what my mother loved so much about this place, how it drew you in and filled you with a strange warmth. I never once saw my mother sad when she was at the temple. This day was one of my most treasured memories that I kept of my mother.

Later on, Mom fell ill and became bedridden. Ami and I were around to take care of her, and our father worked tirelessly to pay for her medical bills. Yet throughout that time of uncertainty and grief, my mother remained bright and optimistic. She was like the one star that shone through a dark night. I admired her greatly for her ability to remain upright in spirit, she’d always been an amazingly strong-willed person.

Through the next year her condition worsened greatly, and she began staying in the hospital. She couldn’t even visit her beloved shrine anymore, where she was happiest. It wasn’t too soon after she was hospitalized that our father recommended we prepare to say our goodbyes.

It was only a few months ago when she’d finally passed. The day that she left us, I knelt by her bed and read her favorite poems as she lay smiling and still, tangled within her warm sheets. Once I’d finished reading the final verses, she reached out, slowly and shakily, and gripped my wrist as tightly as her feeble fingers could manage.

“(Y/N) …” She began with a light-hearted grin gracing her delicate features. “I have something for you.”

I was puzzled. “What’s that?” I tried smiling back. Staying strong and cheerful while Mom was in a constantly worsening condition was becoming harder with every passing day.

Mom started to push herself up from her pillow, attempting to sit up straight as much as her weak body could manage. I was a little startled when she did this, she hardly ever moved anymore, and I was worried she might strain herself too much. I immediately jumped in to steadying her and placing a firm hand on her back to help her balance.

“Mom! You shouldn’t—!”

“(Y/N).” Mom stopped me before I could finish, with a voice as gentle as a breeze.

I bit my lip and gave her a worried look, but conceded and allowed Mom to continue. “Y-Yes?” Mom never liked it when we worried about her too much.

She looked down toward her hands, where I could see her faintly clutching something. “Do you remember those stories…I used to tell you as a child? Of the shrine’s spirit.”

I furrowed my eyebrows a little, in confusion. Was this really the time to be bringing up fairy tales? “Yeah, I do.” I went along with it, it was fine so long as it kept Mom happy.

“Well, that person… He came and saw me today.” She paused, like she was waiting for me to laugh. In truth though, I couldn’t find the words to say. I don’t remember if I thought that the sickness had finally gotten to her head, or if I could read the genuineness in her voice and decided to remain silent. She continued once she realized I wouldn’t say anything. “He really chose one of the worst times too… Visiting me in this state…” I could see the tears begin burning at the corners of her eyes.

“What did he come for?” I insistently pushed her to resume. I could feel tears begin welling up slightly in my own eyes, somehow seeing Mom cry made me want to cry too.

“Ah, that…” Her voice was a little shaky. “He came to give me this,” She held up the small, familiar necklace I’d come to cherish, with a small shard of a jewel tied to its middle. “For you.”

It took me a moment to process what Mom was saying. I was shocked. “For _me_?” I thought for a moment. “ _Mom_! You didn’t leave the hospital to go to the shrine today, did you?” I was wide-eyed and worried.

“Well, I tried to—,” She scratched the back of her head, chuckling weakly with an embarrassed, yet wide grin sprawled across her face. “But he appeared, and stopped me.”

I released a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness…”

“Here.” Mom took one of my hands, opened it, and placed the necklace gingerly in its center. Closing my fingers over the jewel, she said. “This is for you, special from that person.”

“Mom, I can’t—.” I tried to deny it and tell her to keep the jewel, but she insisted.

“Please,” She looked me in the eyes as she pushed my hands and the jewel back toward me. “Keep it. If not for him, then for me.”

My eyebrows drew up in worry, something about her tone – something about her expression just didn’t seem right. “Mom… What’s wrong?”

She slowly looked away, and I could begin to see her body tremble. But she wasn’t trembling because she was weak or tired. “He—.”

Before Mom would finish what she was about to say, Dad suddenly interrupted and threw the door open, hurrying to her side.

He took both of her thin hands into his own, holding them closely to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Dear!” He seemed out of breath. “The meeting ran over a little, I didn’t mean to be so late!” Dad looked to me. “Thank you so much for spending time with Mom, (Y/N)!” Dad paused for a moment, studying my face, and Mom’s. I guessed we both looked a tad shocked. “Did I interrupt something?” Dad asked.

Mom and I were silent for a moment, but then Mom quickly put on her happy face and flashed Dad a heartfelt smile. “No, of course not sweetie! (Y/N) and I were just chit-chatting.”

I stared at Mom for a little bit, trying to surmise whether or not I should ask for what she was about to say moments before. But, ultimately I decided against it. She looked so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin it with whatever made her look so torn up before.

I stood up and grabbed my school bag. “Dad, is Ami waiting outside?”

“Ah,” He adjusted his glasses. “Yes, right outside.”

“Okay, then I’ll take my leave now.” I leaned down and hugged Dad, then turn around and hugged Mom too. Her hug was a little tighter than normal, and longer. “See you guys later, I’m taking Ami home.”

I exited the room and shut the door. To my left and across the hall was Ami, leaning up against the marble-white wall, looking down at her feet as she used her sneakers to trace some sort of invisible pattern.

“You know,” I waited a second before continuing, to make sure she was paying attention. “You should come in one of these days and see Mom.”

“I don’t want to.” She mumbled quietly.

I sighed, giving her a long, somber look. I walked over to her side and rested a hand on top of her head. Stroking the wilder parts of her hair down, I said. “I know it’s hard to see Mom like that, but you have to promise me now,” I leaned down so she’d have to look me in the eyes. “Promise me that next time we’re here, you’ll go in and see her.”

I could see her eyes grow watery as she squinted them beneath the hall’s lights. As her tears welled up at the bottoms of her eyes, I used my thumb to dispel and push them away.

“I think it would make her happy.” I continued prodding. “Promise me.”

I stuck out my pinky for Ami to take. ‘Pinky promises’ were about the only kind of promise that Ami would take seriously. After hesitating for a few moments, Ami stuck her pinky out too and wrapped it around mine.

“Promise.” She said.

Later that night, Mom passed away. According to the nurses, she went peacefully; and strangely enough, none of the machines hooked up to her went off, signaling that her heart had stopped beating. Ami and Dad were a mess, Ami more so than Dad.

She tore herself apart, blaming herself for not coming in to see Mom sooner before she passed. I tried talking to her and convincing her otherwise, but she shut me out and kept it all inside. It took a while before she could talk to me with a smile again.

Ever since then I couldn’t help but wonder what Mom had to say to me, the day she passed. It seemed important, and I couldn’t bring myself to let go of it. I often visited Mom’s grave and talked to her about it – though I never did receive a response.

In retrospect however, I’d like to have believed she was whisked away by that spirit she’d fallen so far in love with, and that now she’s somewhere at his side – eternally embraced in the arms of bliss. That’s what I truly wished for.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

It took an hour or two before Kagura and I had finally reached our destination. Clambering off of her feather, I immediately collapsed, thankful we’d finally reached solid ground at last. I clutched at my stomach, as it felt like it was spinning and thrashing about uncontrollably.

“You’re _fine_.” Kagura groaned. “I’m not _that_ bad of a driver.”

For the most part, Kagura had remained silent during the trip over; and when she did speak, she was only asking questions like ‘what does Naraku want with you’ and ‘why are you so special’. I picked up on her attitude quickly, and grew a small yet minor dislike for her. I couldn’t bring myself to outright hate her though, I assumed she was mostly only mad because of her previous dispute, or what I thought was a dispute, she had with Naraku, before Kanna and I arrived. I mean, even _I_ was a little worked up over my encounter with him. He leaves only misfortune and destruction in his wake, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. But alas, here I was, jumping when he said to jump.

After a moment of gathering my wits, I forced myself to stand. “Where do we go now?” I turned and asked Kagura.

“We?” She scoffed and flicked her fan, eliciting a strong gust of wind to erupt up from the ground. “You’re on your own from here, kid.”

“What?!” I yelled to her and used my arms to shield my face from the intense wind. “But where am _I_ supposed to go?”

“Just keeping heading north, they’ll find you.” And with those last words, the gusts subsided, and I was able to look up just in time before Kagura disappeared atop her feather into the blue sky.

Using one hand to shield my eyes from the sun, I gazed after her silhouette until it was too far away to recognize anymore. “ _They’ll find you_ , she says…” I repeated to myself.

I looked around and analyzed my surroundings. It was only forestry, as far as the eye could see. _She must’ve been referring to Bankotsu and his minions…_ I thought in irritation. _Does that mean they’re somewhere nearby?_

I looked up toward the sun, trying to make out which direction it was headed. According to what I could remember, I believed it was either sometime mid-morning or the afternoon.

“That means North is…” I followed the sun’s path perpendicularly to the left, and peered out into a path overgrown with shrubbery and little light. “This way...” I finished and heaved a sigh. “I wonder how long I’ll have to walk before I run into them, not that I would like to, though.”

I began forward and started pushing aside branches, thickets, and watching out for stray roots that I could trip over. I gained a couple of scratches from the thorns within the bushes and a few branches, but nothing too horrible or deep. Finally, after a while of walking, I’d say about half an hour, the path became clearer and there was a narrow walkway for me to take without having to worry about dodging branches.

“If Kouga were here, this wouldn’t have been such a pain. He always knows which path will be best.” I suddenly thought aloud.

I stopped walking for a moment, a little shocked at my words. I wasn’t usually the type to yearn for another’s presence, and I’d only known him for a short amount of time. Sure, I was in a slightly stressful situation at the moment, but I’d always been strong-willed and able to face my own struggles alone. Could it be that I was a little…infatuated?

The very thought caused my face to begin burning up, and I raised a hand and pressed it against the left half of my face. Sure enough, I could feel the heat radiate through my fingers and spread to my ears. _Ahh what the heck…_ I thought as I balled up my fist a little, eyes narrowed nervously, staring at the ground.

I stayed like that a while longer, before shaking my head rapidly back and forth, forcing the foreign thoughts to dispel from my mind. _I have to stay focused—!_

Once I strode forward one step however, my confidence was immediately shaken by a large boom sounding from somewhere ahead of me. I froze in my tracks, debating whether or not to continue on forward. Gulping, I made the decision to continue my path.

It wasn’t long before the forest dissipated, and I approached a clearing, filled with lush grass, houses, and farm land. Several people were scattered about, either tilling their land or gathered together in groups talking.

_Was I imagining things?_ I thought.

_Boom!_ It resounded with intense ferocity once more.

_Apparently not…_ This time, a noticeable cloud of smoke slowly rose up from the part of the village the blast had come from. Flashes of memories from the other night flooded my mind. Images of flaring embers, injured and confused people, and a bloodied Mai. Without thinking, I fled from the forest and made my way as fast as I could to the village.

For some reason, I was filled with fear. Fear that what had happened before would happen again, but this time I wouldn’t let it. Entering the village, despite the lack of destruction, I could tell many people were in shock. Many covered their mouths in surprise, and others whispered amongst themselves and ushered the younger ones away.

I tried stopping one man who was hurrying away along with a couple others. “Hey, what’s going on?” I said with a sense of urgency.

But he quickly shrugged me off and continued on his way. “Hell, if I know!”

I ignored his rudeness and then hurried toward what appeared to be the center of the chaos. Pushing my way through the crowd, I finally made it and stumbled past the line of people and into the circle.

Collapsed on the ground hugging a small child, was a woman probably around her late twenties. Her hair was pulled back into a dark messy bun, and her clothes were covered in dirt and slightly tattered, probably from laying on the ground. Her and the child were trembling in fear, and when I looked past them and to their adversary, I could understand why.

It was a tall man, with a large canon-like weapon leveled across his shoulder. He had a blue cloth wrapped and tied around his head, and he wore a light blue kimono of the same color as his headband with orange and black armor set over it. Purple streaks of face paint streaked up his face and past his eyes, as if passing through them altogether. His face was twisted with irritation, his lips locked in a scowl, directed straight at the woman and her child.

“Care to retract your choice, woman?” There were ice daggers in his voice.

I looked down toward the woman, who was clutching her child fiercely. Yet despite the man’s intimidation, and despite her rapidly beating heart, she scowled right on back with fierce will.

“We will not bow to evil mercenaries like you!” She yelled.

“You’ll…” The man looked pissed. “You’ll regret your words, you wench!”

As I saw him begin reaching to adjust the large canon across his shoulders to take aim at the woman, I quickly acted and jumped in front of her and threw my arms out in a protective gesture. I was terrified. I could feel the shocked eyes boring into every side of me as soon as I executed those actions. Even the man who was momentarily angry before, now looked confused and unable to think of what he should do next.

_What the hell am I doing, always jumping in at the worst time!_ I self-reprimanded and swallowed hard. _I won’t even have my powers to save me this time, thanks to that Naraku. What the heck is stopping me from dying this time?!_

The man across from me narrowed his eyes to slits. “Step aside, unless you wish to die too.” He threatened.

I remained still, and quietly glancing over my shoulder I whispered. “Run, run before he has time to stop you.” My heart was thundering in my chest.

The woman had a perverse look of shock and relief intermixed in her expression when I turned a little bit to speak to her. But as soon as the words left my mouth, she nodded, uttered a word of thanks, and hurriedly got to her feet and fled through the crowd with her child in hand. A small breath of relief escaped my lips.

“You wench…!” The stranger with the gun snarled. “You _and_ that woman are dead!” He leveled his large canon at me and took aim.

I drew in a sharp gasp, bit my lip, and squeezed my eyes shut, awaiting the powerful, bone-shattering impact to come. Right before the _boom_ of the canon rang out however, I heard a sharp clang of metal against metal colliding harshly with one another.

“Renkotsu!” A discomfortingly familiar, feminine voice called out in a scolding manner.

“Wha—? Jakotsu.” The newly named Renkotsu said in shock.

I slowly willed my eyes to open, my limbs trembling from the fear of my previously impending death. When I was finally able to fully visualize the scene in front of me, Jakotsu was to the side of Renkotsu, his right arm using his sword to offset Renkotsu’s canon just enough to miss me.

“Are you crazy? Bankotsu wants us to keep a low profile!” He flicked his sword away, releasing Renkotsu’s canon. “Use the brain you were given next time.”

Renkotsu looked away and clicked his tongue angrily, having nothing to say in return. Realizing my life was no longer in mortal peril, my jelly-like knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Finally taking notice, Jakotsu glanced at me curiously, and then his face lit up with recognition.

“Oh!” He waved a finger at me. “It’s _you_!”

I immediately scowled at him, so far he’d done nothing but leave bad impressions on my mind. I clutched at my torso, angrily reminiscent of the way he’d slashed it open yesterday, using his snake-like blade. And what made me even angrier than _that_ was the way he’d slaughtered Mai right in front of me. Without a detectable trace of mercy or humanity.

“Do you know her or something, Jakotsu? Rare for you to be acquainted with a woman that’s head isn’t lying on the ground.” Renkotsu interrupted my glaring contest with Jakotsu.

_He must be another of the Band of Seven…_ I thought, and proceeded to give him stink eye as well.

“Trust me,” Jakotsu shrugged his shoulders quite half-heartedly. “She would’ve been dead long ago if it wasn’t for Bankotsu.”

“Bankotsu?” Renkotsu perked up curiously. “What use does he have for her?”

Jakotsu shook and hung his head, one hand now resting on his hip with the other still gripping the hilt of his sword. “Dunno, something about that Naraku guy wanting her.”

Somehow, I felt like I was invisible during this whole conversation. It was about me, yet they never turned to speak to me or referred to me like I was there. They were low on my list of people I liked, and this just pushed them even further.

“So?” I jumped, pulled back to reality by Jakotsu’s harsh and unkind voice. I was surprised he’d finally spoken to me. “Where’s that wind demon then? She always seems to be around when it comes to delivering messages.”

“Oh.” I started, unable to really find my words at first. “Sh-She left…already.” I tried sounding as strong-willed as I could; I couldn’t afford to become a pushover when it came to this guy, I’d only get trampled.

“Hmm.” Jakotsu groaned, clearly unimpressed with my effort. “Well then, are you finished here? Renkotsu?” Jakotsu turned away from me to face Renkotsu again.

“Just give me a second.” Renkotsu turned and stated impatiently.

He walked over to a small wagon nearby, one that I assumed was the woman’s from earlier. Leaning down, he jiggled the handle to its doors, and since they didn’t open the first time, he then violently tore the door back, ending up pulling it clear off its hinges. Throwing the door to the side, Renkotsu pushed his hand inside and shuffled through its contents, as if in search of something.

“Hey!” I pushed myself to my feet and took a brave step toward Renkotsu. “You can’t take—!” Almost immediately, I was quite indiscreetly reminded of the position I held when Jakotsu’s sword flew towards me, stopping only inches from my neck.

“Hey, woman,” He began coldly. “Don’t overstep your boundaries. You’re _our_ prisoner.”

I was frozen, trembling slightly and struggling to keep my breathing steady. Who knew what kind of orders Naraku had given to their group. Maybe, if they’d really grown tired of me, they were permitted to kill me. And without my powers or Sango’s kodachi, it was near impossible for me to be able to defend myself. I gulped, gritted my teeth, and looked away, backing down. I couldn’t make it back to my friends if I was dead.

Jakotsu seemed to give me a couple more seconds to think about it, and then he briefly lowered his sword, finally sheathing it. I think he was secretly hoping I would’ve fought back, so that he’d have an excuse to kill me. I could already tell he was going to make my time with the bandits a living hell.

As he came upon the item he was looking for at last, Renkotsu stood up and smirked. In his hands he held a couple of things: some black dust, a bag filled with some sort of herb, and a few other knick knacks. He quickly stuffed them into his robe, and retrieved his gun from the ground.

“Let’s go. Bankotsu should be back soon as well.” He turned and began walking away.

Jakotsu nodded and began following after Renkotsu, but paused once he’d noticed me begin following, though hesitant, as well. He turned and took a couple intimidating steps towards me, eliciting my reflex to stumble backwards a bit to avoid him.

“Let’s get a couple things clear, woman.” I gulped as his threatening gaze settled on me. “Number one: you try to run, or so much as think about it, I’ll kill you.” His words pulsed with venom.

I narrowed my gaze at him, attempting to return his evil glare. I could feel my skin grow clammy and sweat trailing past my temples.

“Two,” He began again. “Keep your hands off Bankotsu. I don’t care what your excuse is.” He pulled away, denying me any chance of firing back, not that I would’ve had anything to say of course.

I stared after his silhouette as he strode away, trying to fathom why the heck he would say something like that to me. Who would even want to be _around_ a terrifying bandit like Bankotsu? They’d have to be crazy, or evil like him. I sighed, as I then jogged to catch up with the two of them. My mind was filled with what could happen next, not that I’d like to know.


	12. Mercy and Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning of Suikotsu's death, you discover a shockingly alright side to Bankotsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again so much for tuning in! Please enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 12: Mercy and Memory**

It had been a few hours since Jakotsu, Renkotsu, and I had returned to their camp. It was a pretty decent-sized building, seemingly abandoned due to its rough exterior and lack of lawn care. The paper on the sliding doors had holes and lots of wear and tear, but I supposed for a band of mercenaries, they couldn’t be awful picky.

Bankotsu hadn’t seemed to arrive yet, but while there, I became unfortunately acquainted with Ginkotsu, though I counted myself lucky that the other one wasn’t there, Mukotsu, since from what I heard, he was quite lecherous and crude-minded. Ginkotsu was large, though not as large as Kyokotsu, and most of his body seemed to be made up of spare parts and metal. While his right arm was normal, his left arm was made of steel, and at the end where a hand may have once been was a claw-like tool instead. Somehow, it reminded me of Suikotsu’s weapon.

Soon after we’d arrived, Jakotsu rummaged through their supplies until he fumbled across some thick rope, which he decided would be used to bind my hands and feet and tie me to a nearby tree’s trunk. I was 99% sure he’d only done that to cause me more misery, seeing as if I thought I had a pretty good chance at running away, I would’ve done it already after Kagura dropped me off. But, I decided that I wouldn’t let that bother me. I couldn’t grant these guys any satisfaction whatsoever from my fear or complaints.

Everybody else had long gone into the weary homestead, and from the sounds of it they were partying and celebrating _some_ thing. Anyone could tell they were mercenaries, drinking even though it was only early evening. I had already begun to drift off when the faint sound of footsteps thudding against the hard, dirt path startled me awake.

I flicked my eyes open and looked down the trail, where far ahead I began to make out a vague silhouette making its way through the trees. From the looks of him, he was shorter than the others, maybe just a tad taller than me, with long, raven-black hair falling down his back in a braid, swaying back and forth as he walked. A purple tattoo of a star decorated the center of his forehead, appearing between his parted bangs. His eyes were a dark blue, and the kimono he wore was a pristine white covered by grey and light violet-colored armor, patterned with dark purple fern-like etchings.

On one shoulder, he rested his enormous halberd, Banryu, whose hilt was black, but wrapped toward the beginning of the blade’s protrusion. It was wide and horrifically daunting; I recalled being intimidated by the intense ferocity it emanated when I’d first encountered Bankotsu. I gulped and narrowed my gaze as he drew closer.

“Oh,” He stopped a few feet from me and droned coldly. “Who left you out here to rot?”

He dropped down to my level without sitting, enough to make contact and lock eyes with me. His icy stare was intense, but I pursed my lips into a tight line and willed myself to return it. Bankotsu wasn’t smiling at all, in fact he seemed to be angry for some reason. His eyes were alit with fire, and the air around him was tense and unmoving.

He hooked one cold finger beneath my chin and tilted my head up a little to face him more directly. “Tell me. Was it Jakotsu?” I could feel my heartbeat heightening, but not the way it did when I was with Kouga. This time, fear was the motivation.

I remained silent, unsure whether or not replying to him would be the wiser decision. Even if it was wiser, I didn’t know exactly what to say. What would throwing Jakotsu under the bus do for me? I held his strong look, right up until he released me from his grip at last.

He got back to his feet, and proceeded to grip Banryu’s hilt and level the halberd vertically in front his head. My eyes and mouth widened quickly in shock. Was he going to kill me? Right there? Right then? I shut my eyes tightly and bit my lip, praying to God that blade wouldn’t strike me.

But thankfully, I heard it thrust into the ground somewhere behind me, and felt the ropes that bound me to the tree loosen accordingly. I opened my eyes and released a sharp breath, quickly counting my blessings. I studied the bulky ropes as they slacked and collapsed into my lap.

I slowly looked back up to Bankotsu, as he picked up Banryu once more and held it out in front of him as he did before. He glared icily, eliciting small beads of sweat to crown my neck and face.

“Wh-What?” I said, a little more timidly than I meant to. I was surprised he hadn’t left me as I was, tied to the tree. I figured a mercenary like him wouldn’t have cared.

His glare narrowed slightly; he was growing impatient. “Spread your feet, now.” He commanded.

“R-Right…” I stuck my feet out and spread them as far as the rope binding them would allow.

Then, with one swift strike, Bankotsu split the rope binding my ankles as well. Once he’d finished, I’d retracted my legs and pushed the rope off them with my still-bound wrists. I glanced from the ropes around my wrists and up to Bankotsu a couple of times, as he picked up Banryu and rested it over his shoulders again. I held out my wrists as well, assuming he would take those off too. But boy, was I wrong.

He tossed a look down to me indifferently. “No. You just need to be able to walk.”

I pulled my wrists back a little and looked down a little worriedly, and then he reached down fast and snatched up the back of my kimono’s collar, forcing me to stand. I yelped out of surprise when I felt the sheer force of his grip, I didn’t realize a human could be so strong. A small rush of adrenaline hit me then.

“Up.” He demanded.

As soon as I found my footing, he let me go and used the same hand to push me forward, and quite forcefully I might add. I stumbled from the force of the shove, but found my balance once more and tossed him a nasty glance over my shoulder before continuing in the direction he ushered me to.

_What the heck could be his problem? He seems pissed._ I thought irritatingly to myself. 

I furrowed my eyebrows in nervousness and frustration, unable to really pinpoint the catalyst for his anger. I decided for the moment that it would be smart to watch where I treaded; I still didn’t know Bankotsu well enough to know whether or not he was the type to have an explosive temper or stay cool and controlled.

I walked cautiously up the steps to the abandoned home, cheery voices sounding from inside and Bankotsu trailing not far behind me. When I finally reached the door, I froze as I could feel Bankotsu practically seething a few steps before me. He reached past me and slid the door open, moving me aside and marching in.

As soon as he entered the room and the small _tap_ of the door touching the wall sounded out, the room immediately grew quiet. Jakotsu and Renkotsu sat together on the floor, drinking sake from a couple of small, wooden cups and exchanging conversation. Ginkotsu sat not far from them, a project laid out in front of him that he seemed to be working on in silence. All their eyes were now focused on Bankotsu, who seemed livider now than he was before.

“Ban!” Jakotsu’s eyes lit up and he jeered excitedly. “I’ve been waiting for you!” He exclaimed happily.

Jakotsu got up from where he sat and strode joyfully over to Bankotsu, and then proceeded to attempt to give him what looked like was gonna be a hug. But Bankotsu rudely interrupted his try with a swift, powerful slap executed cleanly across his face. I noticed Renkotsu’s and Ginkotsu’s eyes widen ever so slightly at Bankotsu’s sudden outburst, but both of them remained still and silent. The reign Bankotsu held over his comrades was almost impressive.

Jakotsu was in shock, his eyes wider than the rest. He stood silent for a moment, as if taking in and processing exactly what had just happened. He gingerly used one hand to reach up and cradle his bruised cheek. “Ow.” He mumbled.

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes at Jakotsu. “What were you thinking?” He said calmly, but with stabbing venom.

Jakotsu slowly looked back up to Bankotsu, still coming out of the shock of before. “What do you mean?” He said quietly.

“Her.” Bankotsu stepped to the side and motioned to me, earning me a deadly, piercing gaze from Jakotsu. “What the hell was she doing? Tied up outside?” Bankotsu continued almost too calmly.

“Wh—!” Jakotsu tried to begin, a scowl growing on his face as he too grew angry. “What do you mean! She was tied up so she wouldn’t escape! I’m doing as you asked, aren’t I?!”

“ _No_.” Bankotsu spoke with lethal precision, a tone that silenced Jakotsu immediately. “I _told_ you,” He began again. “Naraku told us to not let her out of our _sight_. Yet _here_ you are, doing the opposite of what you were told.” He narrowed his gaze angrily. “Apparently you aren’t as reliable as I thought.”

Jakotsu furrowed his eyebrows more as he held Bankotsu’s intimidating gaze, soon struggling to keep it up. After a few more seconds, Jakotsu grit his teeth, clicked his tongue, and turned away in shame. The air in the room was still tense, as Bankotsu’s piercing eyes continued boring holes into Jakotsu’s head.

And then after what felt like an eternity, Bankotsu finally looked away from Jakotsu and turned to face me, causing my heart to drop a little in my chest; I gulped. The light from his eyes had faded, and the once psychotic glee that lit up his face the night before was now relapsed into murderous intent.

“You,” He grabbed my arm and squeezed my wrist brutally, causing me to wince a little bit. My legs suddenly began to feel like big hunks of lead, and a small shiver ran through my body, eliciting goosebumps across my arms. He pulled my nearer to him. “You’re staying with me tonight.”

My eyes shot wide open as it felt like my heart had stopped beating. Did he really say what I thought he’d just said? This mercenary, who was already at the dead bottom of my list, became so much more vulgar in my eyes than I’d seen him before.

After a moment, I finally I realized I was frozen, eyes wide, and staring into his own. I snapped myself out of my funk, and tried to forcefully yank my hand away from his. “No!” I yelled.

But despite my cry in rebellion, Bankotsu continued hauling me toward the sliding door to our left. And just before he was able to push the door open and pull me inside along with him, Renkotsu spoke up and thankfully, got his attention.

“Bankotsu.” Bankotsu stopped with his hand resting on the door, and glanced daggers over his shoulder to Renkotsu. Once he realized Bankotsu was listening, he resumed. “Did Suikotsu,” He paused for a moment, but not out of any emotional turmoil that I could tell. “Die?”

I felt Bankotsu’s grip on my wrist tighten quickly and then release, as if he’d flinched ever so slightly. I could feel the shock register on my face before it had properly registered in my brain.

_Suikotsu’s dead…? That means Kouga…Kouga beat him...! Thank goodness…_ I could feel my heart lift in spirits a tiny bit, as a blissful feeling of relief washed over me. I could feel the corners of my mouth curl up in a little smile. But, that smile quickly vanished when I noticed Bankotsu’s eyes on me, glaring poison at me out of the corner of his rageful eyes. I bit my lip and averted my gaze, unable to take his intense stare.

“Yes,” He began coldly. When I looked back up to him he was staring at the door again. “He did.”

And with that, he threw the door open and thrust me into the dully lit room. I tripped and collapsed onto the floor, squeezing my eyes as I took on the impact. After landing, I willed my eyes to open once more and glimpsed Bankotsu stepping in as well and slamming the door behind him.

I quickly gathered myself and scuttled backwards on the floor as Bankotsu laid Banryu to the side and began untying and slipping off his armor.

_This can’t be happening! It can’t!_ I screamed within the secluding walls of my mind as I remained helpless, watching Bankotsu lay the last of his armor to the side, next to Banryu. My heart was going a thousand miles per hour, and my stomach began to feel awful, like it’d received a lethal punch to its gut.

Bankotsu began to stride powerfully toward me, and once he was too close, I shut my eyes, awaiting the awful feeling to come. But, instead of that, I felt a large garment fall across me and over my head. I waited a moment more before doing anything, afraid that this was just part of it.

But as nothing else happened and I heard Bankotsu start walking away, I willed my eyes to open and pulled the blanket off of my head. My head circled a bit with confusion, as I stared at the lump of fabric in my lap and flicked my eyes back and forth from it and Bankotsu a few times.

Bankotsu stopped at the farther side of the room opposite of me, and dropped to a sitting position, and then laid down on his side facing away from me. I blinked at him a few times, still trying to discern the meaning of his actions.

“Wh-What are you doing…?” I asked confidently, yet still a bit timidly. I didn’t want to accidentally spark his temper.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He grumbled, still facing away from me.

“Well,” I looked back down to the blanket in my lap, contemplating my words. But in the end, I decided against saying anything regarding the matter. “N-Never mind.” I uttered.

“If you’re wondering why I’m not trying anything,” He began, as if reading my mind. “I’m not into demons.”

“I-I’m not a demon, or anything like that.” I contested, though maybe it was good thing if he was repelled by me.

“Well,” He sat back up and looked over his shoulder at me. From his expression, I could tell he still wasn’t in the best mood, meaning I should probably watch where I stepped. “You aren’t human either. Not totally at least. Exactly, what are you?” He asked with a monotone, yet dead serious look on his face.

I gulped, taking a moment to pick out my words. “I’m not…too sure…” I sighed.

Bankotsu’s expression never changed, remaining stark and emotionless, aside from the slight flicker of rage in his eyes. He finally tore his gaze from me and stared down into the room’s floorboards.

He exhaled heavily. “Whatever.” He grumbled.

I cautiously glanced over to him, he seemed tired and irritated. And despite his rough exterior and mercenary background, he took me in from outside and scolded Jakotsu for treating me badly. He even gave me a blanket to sleep with; I was beginning to feel more like an uncomfortable guest as opposed to a hostage.

I clenched the blanket tightly in my fists and managed to muster up the last of my courage. “Bankotsu.” I began, waiting for him to give me some sort of signal that he was listening. He casted me a sideways look. I swallowed hard as I could feel my head begin pounding with anxiety. “Th-Thank you…” I barely whispered, finally able to choke it out somehow.

“Thank you for what?” He queried. It seemed even though I spoke through silent breaths, he still managed to hear me.

“Y-You know,” I was beginning to struggle for words, I didn’t think the conversation would get this far. “For helping me earlier, and for,” I lifted the blanket to show him. “This.”

He continued using his sideways look to gawk at me, not making a single effort to reply. Somehow, I could imagine him rolling his eyes at me sarcastically in the back of his mind, which frustrated me a bit. All that effort and energy put into thanking him, and I got little to no reaction.

Finally, I looked away from him. I heard him grunt in acknowledgement, and shuffle a little like he’d laid back down. The sun was now setting, and the room was barely shed enough light to still make out the outline of his sulking silhouette.

I squeezed my knees against my chest and held them together with the blanket and my arms. I laid the side of my cheek against my knees and looked to Bankotsu.

 _Earlier he said Suikotsu had died…_ I began to think. _That means… Kouga is alive, right?_ I smiled thankfully at the thought and closed my eyes. _Somewhere, he’s still out there and well._

I laid back onto the floor and spread the blanket over myself, pulling it up snugly around my shoulders and trying my best to remain comfortable against the cold, hard wooden floor.

As my mind began to drift, I couldn’t help but think about the day before when Kouga had drawn close for a few short seconds. I could feel the heat of his breath, and rapid beat of his heart as he remained over my frozen body. I felt my cheeks warm up and redden, as I fell into sweet sleep with that image and these newfound, delicate feelings wrapping and squeezing my nervous heart.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

“Kouga, you should bed down for the night! It won’t do you any good standing up there in the cold like that.” Kagome called to him.

Kouga stood gazing out off the side of a cliff, near to where their group decided to set up camp for the night. His expression was stern with eyebrows furrowed, eyes filled with uncertainty and frustration. A slight breeze blew through his fine, raven-black hair, causing his long ponytail to whip about.

Kagome sighed when she realized Kouga hadn’t heard a word she said. Walking up beside him, Kagome brushed the tip of his shoulder with her fingers, eliciting goose bumps across his skin and a slight startle.

“O-Oh, Kagome.” Kouga glanced over to her, a little wide-eyed. “I didn’t see you there.” He turned to face her.

She narrowed her eyes at his deep, blue ones. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” She drawled.

“Ah,” Kouga looked away nervously, too prideful to say he hadn’t. “Um…” He was trying to come up with the right thing to say to diffuse his guilt.

After watching him struggle for a few seconds or so, Kagome finally granted a small flicker of a smile and patted him on the back. “We’re all worried about her, you know. You’re not alone in this.” She comforted.

Kouga’s previously wide eyes now settled into a calmly narrowed demeanor. Without saying anything, he looked away again over the side of the cliff. “I,” He began slowly. “I know I’m not alone in this.” He clenched his fists. “But she was right there…” He clicked his tongue and furrowed his eyebrows as he recalled the memory. “And I couldn’t do anything to stop them from taking her…I was useless…”

Kagome’s eyebrows drew up with worry, as she continued to rest a caring hand across his back. She looked out off the cliff, searching for a way to cheer him up a little. “I haven’t known (Y/N) for long, but,” Kagome looked back up to Kouga again. “I can tell she’s strong. Even without her powers, she’s strong.”

Kouga looked back to her as well.

Kagome smiled, seeing as she’d finally gripped his attention a little. “We know for a fact they want her alive, and I doubt she’d let herself be so easily pushed around.” Kagome took Kouga’s hand closest to her and gripped it in both of hers, a notion meant to comfort him. “She doesn’t seem like the type to hold a grudge, or lose hope for that matter. I’m sure she doesn’t hold it against you for not being able to save her, and I’m even more sure she has faith you’re looking for her now.”

Kouga lowered his eyes down to where Kagome’s hands wrapped over his own. He stared sadly down at them, and then after a few moments, he took his hand back and looked away with a light blush. “Right, I know that.” He mumbled and turned away, starting down the cliff. “I’m gonna go find some cold water.” He shouted over his shoulder to Kagome, without turning back.

Once he was out of sight, Kagome held her hands up to her chest, a little shocked Kouga had actually pushed her away like that. More often than not, he was all over her and treasured every little piece of affection she offered him. He never turned her down this way.

But as soon as it hit her, Kagome quickly lifted her hand to cover her mouth in surprise. “Well, that’s unexpected.” She whispered to herself.

After pondering the thought for a few more moments, Kagome made her way down the cliff as well, back toward where her friends had set up camp. Before she’d made it into the densest part of the forest however, she heard a familiar, gruff voice call out from the side.

“’Bout time you came back.” It grumbled.

Kagome glanced over to the source to find Inuyasha leaning against a tree, shaded by the branches from the moon’s light. He was scowling, his usual expression when Kagome interacts with Kouga in any way.

“Oh, Inuyasha.” Kagome grinned. “Were you lookin’ out for me?”

Inuyasha scoffed. “No way.” He motioned over to the direction that Kouga had taken off to. “Is he done pouting yet?”

Kagome shook her head worriedly. “But,” She began. “I think I know why now.” She chuckled.

Inuyasha furrowed his brows, an appalled expression spelled out all over his face. “The hell are you cackling about?” He grumbled.

Kagome ignored him, still giggling a little and waving him off, continuing her path back to camp. Inuyasha spouted complaints, trailing close behind.


	13. Bankotsu's Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bankotsu warns you as you and the rest of the mercenaries ready to head out the next day. Will Bankotsu be as cruel as he claims he'll be? Up next, Inuyasha's group and Kouga are about to come in contact with one of the Band of Seven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I apologize for the late update, but I look forward to writing more and adding onto this story in the future!

**Chapter 13: Bankotsu’s Warning**

It was really early in the morning, the air was chilly with a slight breeze that wafted through the open halls of the small, rickety building. The grass was cold and wet with morning dew, shimmering against the sun’s rays that were barely beginning to peek over the horizon. Had I not known better, I would’ve thought the ground was made of diamonds.

I heaved a yawn. I was standing on the building’s open porch out front, wrists still bound by the same ropes that Jakotsu had used to knot them up the previous evening. They were starting to feel raw and sore; I betted that if they were to be undone, there would be bruises hiding beneath. Sleepiness tugged at my eyelids and a heavy weight seemed to be resting atop my head; my night ended up being restless. I fell asleep quickly the first time, but I awoke in the middle of the night and was unable to sleep again. Maybe the reality of the situation I was in had finally begun hitting me, as everything up ‘till them had been pretty surreal-feeling. Then again, everything that’d happened since reappearing in the feudal era had been pretty surreal. The mere thought that demons were real, mysterious priests and priestesses that had magical powers really existed, and mercenaries such as these ones regularly traveled about, pillaging villages and killing innocent people every which way they went.

Those same mercenaries which I was mainly referring to, were inside the building packing their things and readying themselves to move out to the next destination. Ginkotsu had headed out earlier before I’d even awoken, and he didn’t seem to have told anybody where he might’ve been headed off to either. None of his comrades seemed particularly bothered by it though; for some reason they seemed to be rather unorganized and impulsive for a band of dangerous criminals.

I sighed and leaned against the side of the building just as Renkotsu exited through its door and made his way off of the hall’s porch and onto the dewy grass. His sudden exit startled me a bit, causing me to tense as he walked past me. Bankotsu also appeared in the doorway, stopping short next to me.

He put one hand on his right hip and gazed down at Renkotsu as Renkotsu turned to return his look. “So, you’re heading north, right?”

Renkotsu nodded. “Yeah. I heard there was temple up there, I’ll make myself at home.” Renkotsu smirked and patted the large, steel cannon strapped to his back, eliciting a light shiver to run across my skin.

“Good.” Bankotsu nodded, and then he also stepped down from the porch and held out his arm for Renkotsu to take. “Stick close, and remember the plan.” Bankotsu smiled.

Renkotsu also grinned, and took Bankotsu’s arm in a firm handshake. “Right.” He agreed.

After giving Bankotsu’s forearm a firm squeeze, he turned and marched away down the forest’s path. Bankotsu continued to stare after him until he disappeared into the thickets, and didn’t turn back around until he heard Jakotsu approach him from behind.

“Hey, Ban.” Jakotsu said, a bit playfully but also with a tinge of impatience. “Are we good to head out yet? I’m getting antsy.”

Bankotsu stared up at Jakotsu for a few moments before granting him an answer. He sighed and closed his eyes. “Yeah. But you’ll be departing on your own.” Bankotsu opened his eyes once more, revealing a navy gaze that could pierce stone.

The air became tense. I could feel goosebumps protrude across my skin, and the hair stand on the back of my neck. Jakotsu didn’t respond right away, his eyebrows starkly furrowed and his eyes miniature orbs of silent fury. Without blinking or taking his eyes off of Bankotsu, he leaned his hip to the right and rested his adjacent hand on it.

“All right then.” He droned flatly. He hooked a thumb using the same hand he’d rested previously on his hip, and pointed it toward me. “I’ll take her with me.”

“No.” Bankotsu’s immediate response was almost startling, like he already expected Jakotsu to say that.

I noticed Jakotsu flinch ever so slightly out of the corner of my eye. I pursed my lips and looked away, afraid of meeting the murderous intent in his eyes. I subtly fumbled with the ropes binding my wrists, now wishing I was able to move freely, just in case Jakotsu happened to reach his limit and slash me to bits. At least then I’d have some way to defend myself, even if it isn’t much.

“Why not? Surely you couldn’t be taking her. She’d only bog you down.” Jakotsu said a little smugly. He certainly didn’t sound happy about Bankotsu’s decision.

Bankotsu’s gaze narrowed, as he visibly grew annoyed. “Yeah, maybe. But that’s not for you to decide.” Bankotsu moved forward and up the steps to stand beside Jakotsu.

As he stepped up and grew nearer to Jakotsu and I, I tried to take a step back, but the ropes around my wrists were also bound to one of the building’s many pillars. Bankotsu had tied me to it earlier, so that their band could ready their things without having to worry about me slipping away.

Jakotsu glared bravely back into Bankotsu’s fiery, yet shimmering eyes. Wrinkles formed where Bankotsu’s eyebrows knitted together, signifying his anger and mild temper. “Right now, you can’t be trusted to look over a hostage, so I won’t let you ruin this rare chance for us.”

Jakotsu’s eyes softened suddenly, a hint of understanding growing within them. Who knew a simple, eerie phrase like that could get a beast like him to calm his wits? Come to think of it, what did Bankotsu mean, ‘ _this chance for us_ ’? I became low-key curious.

Jakotsu sighed and waved Bankotsu away as he passed him and treaded into the grass from the porch of the building. He casted Bankotsu a forlorn look over his shoulder, still obviously unsatisfied, but willing to leave it at that for the time being.

“Jakotsu.” Bankotsu turned and called out to his comrade. Jakotsu stopped to listen, but didn’t turn to acknowledge him at all. “Go ahead to meet our new friends.” Bankotsu smirked. “Test them out for me.”

My heart dropped as soon as I realized who he was referring to. _Kouga and the others!_ I anxiously thought to myself.

Jakotsu waved a hand over his shoulder. “Right, right.” And with that he also disappeared into the surrounding woods, like Renkotsu.

Bankotsu turned to me with a nonchalant expression etched across his face. “You ready too?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Hey, you didn’t send Jakotsu off to attack my friends, did you?”

“So, what if I did?” He placed his hangs judgingly on his hips, returning my stark gaze.

I bit my lip, unable to really think of the right way to respond. There wasn’t anything I could do in the situation I was currently in, and I doubted Bankotsu was in the mood for bargaining. It sounded like he’d already cut a pretty sweet deal with Naraku, anyway.

Bankotsu walked up next to me causing me to tense, and began untying the rope that bound me to the pillar. “Let’s get a few things straight.” Bankotsu said in a deadly tone of voice. My blood ran cold. “One. Do everything I tell you to, without question.” He’d just gotten through the rope’s first knot. “Two. If you try to attack, or hurt me, I will return it two-fold.” He finally finished untying the rest of the rope, as a chill ran down my spine and he tightened his grip on it, suddenly yanking the rope hard so I’d lunge forward, and fall just inches from his face. Our eyes were so close, and I was betting he could read the fear in mine. “And three. Try to run, flee, or call for help: I’ll kill you myself.”

I gulped, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. Bankotsu stared into my face for a few moments more, until finally dropping the rope and turning away. I almost fell forward to the ground once the rope slacked, but luckily I was able to catch myself before I was hit with an unpleasant impact.

Without giving me time to gather myself, Bankotsu used the rope like a leash and pulled me forward along with him. “Let’s go.”

I stumbled after his broad silhouette, broiling with conflicting feelings and immense concern for my friends, whom Jakotsu was sent after. Kouga may not have fully healed yet from his battle with Suikotsu, so if he were to run into Jakotsu, there’s no telling what could happen. I pursed my lips as beads of sweat crowned my forehead, and I reluctantly followed Bankotsu into the deep forest. And eventually, we were swallowed up by the daunting trees and their shadows altogether.

~**~**~**~

The group traveled along silently toward the mountain’s pass, everyone’s minds deep in thought. Sango had separated earlier, after she decided she’d investigate an alternative path along with Kirara; due to an earlier warning given to them by a small, passing group of soldiers.

“Hey, Inuyasha…” Shippo began wearily. “Don’t you think we should’ve waited for Sango? Those guys were pretty insistent on us avoiding this way…” Shippo fumbled around with his fingers nervously.

Inuyasha scoffed. “Don’t be such a scared-y cat!” The silver-haired half-demon crossed his arms grumpily. “It’s Sango’s fault for taking so long! She’ll find us eventually.”

Shippo narrowed his eyes and glared at Inuyasha’s back, grumbling.

Kagome glanced at her little fox friend mounted atop her shoulder, and flashed him a gentle smile. “It’s okay, Shippo.” Shippo looked to her curiously. “Inuyasha’s just worried about (Y/N). He can’t stand sitting around when a friend’s in trouble.”

“Ah, I see! In the end, Inuyasha is just a big softie, no matter how he shows it!” Shippo giggled, while leering at Inuyasha. It was obvious he was attempting to get a rise out of him.

“That’s not it at all!” Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder at Shippo, eyebrows knitted together in a tight scowl. “I’m just tired of the enemies being one step ahead of us!” Inuyasha turned to face forward again. “So, I’ll be damned if I let any silly little human army tell me what to do!”

Shippo only growled in response, but it was Kouga that offered the snide remark. “What a stubborn mutt.” He said under his breath.

Having heard Kouga’s comment with his dog-like senses, Inuyasha spun around on his heel and waved a claw in his direction. “What’d you say, you dumb wolf cub!”

Kouga simply turned his head away and shut his eyes, ignoring him in a smug manner. Kagome smiled when she saw that, realizing Kouga had begun to feel better. The day before, he’d been silent and often kept to himself; unlike his usual antics where he’d stick as close to her as possible. But it seemed he’d had a change of heart since losing (Y/N). But to Kagome, it seemed that the change of heart was due to something more than just losing (Y/N), but whether or not Kouga realized it himself was another matter.

Inuyasha’s face scrunched up as he snarled, drawing back his claws into fists directed at Kouga. “You little—! How dare you ignore me!”

Inuyasha took a step towards Kouga, but was immediately stopped my Miroku, as he moved his staff to block Inuyasha’s path. “Inuyasha, we don’t have the time of day for you two to bicker. Not to mention Kouga is still injured.”

Miroku motioned to the cast slung around Kouga’s right shoulder, holding up his broken arm and the several bandages wrapped meticulously about his body. Inuyasha eyed the wolf up and down with narrowed, golden eyes, then clicked his tongue and turned back to face the way he was prior, arms crossed across his chest.

“Dumb wolf. If he’s gonna be all bark and no bite, he might as well not bark at all!” Inuyasha waved the issue away and continued on the trail that led toward the mountain’s pass.

Kagome noticed Kouga clenching his fists, so tightly his knuckles were beginning to turn white. As the group resumed their path, Kagome approached Kouga’s side and tapped his back.

A little startled, Kouga jumped a bit and turned his head to look down into Kagome’s bright, worried, doe eyes. Not long ago, this look of Kagome’s would’ve made Kouga’s heart skip a beat. But now for some reason, he was a little more indifferent about it.

“Something wrong?” Kouga asked softly.

Kagome smiled and shook her head slowly. “No. I actually came to ask _you_ that question. You still seem a little out of it.”

Kouga’s eyes widened the tiniest bit; he hadn’t yet noticed his behavior himself. But looking away and thinking back on the past couple of days, he did come to notice the difference in his actions. But he simply softened his eyes at the ground and responded. “Maybe, but I’m fine.” He then put on his usual smug grin and patted his makeshift cast. “As soon as I’m out of this thing I’ll be able to protect you, no problem! You won’t need to rely on that damned mutt anymore.”

Kagome giggled. “Glad to hear it.” She was happy Kouga seemed to be doing better, but she could still tell he wasn’t at one hundred percent yet.

The group continued on, until a familiar sensation washed over them like cold water. Shocking enough to stop them in their tracks. A sharp shiver ran up Kagome’s spine as she sensed a sacred jewel shard close by. And like her, Miroku sensed a great evil up ahead, and Kouga and Inuyasha were flooded with the familiar, and sickening scent of graveyard soil and fresh blood.

“I-Inuyasha…” Kagome began.

“Yeah, I know.” Inuyasha snarled. “The odor of death up ahead is almost overpowering.”

“Y-You don’t think,” Shippo started with a timid, shaky voice. “That something could’ve happened to those soldiers… Do you?”

“Who else could it be?” Inuyasha remarked and curled his left fist, popping a few knuckles. “Humans always stick their noses where they don’t belong.” He casted a quick look over his shoulder. “Kagome, you stay back! I’m going up ahead.” And without another word or warning, he took off toward the source of their trouble.

“I’m going too.” Kouga said quickly, as he also sped off after Inuyasha.

“Inuya—! Kouga!!” Miroku tried calling after them, but they’d both already left earshot distance. Even if they had heard him, Miroku doubted they would’ve stopped; they were both hard-headed like that. Miroku clenched his teeth and also turned to Kagome. “Do as Inuyasha said and stay as far back as you can! Shippo, please protect Lady Kagome.”

Shippo gulped hard and nodded to Miroku. After returned his nod, Miroku too, pursued Inuyasha and Kouga. Kagome held a fist up to her heart, small beads of sweat forming along her cheek.

“The soldier’s mentioned specters earlier, could this mean what’s up ahead could be one?” Kagome looked at the ground and narrowed her eyes in thought. “That means it could be a member of the band of seven.”

Resolute in her decision, Kagome also shot forward as fast as her legs could carry her to where she sensed the sacred jewel shard.

“K-Kagome!” Shippo shouted, barely able to keep holding on. “Where are you going! They told us to stay back!!”

“I have to see for myself!” Kagome answered.

Shippo didn’t understand what Kagome meant by that, but upon seeing the look in her eyes, Shippo gulped down his fear and went along with it.


	14. Mukotsu's Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Traveling through a pass they were warned from treading, Inuyasha's group and Kouga run into Jakotsu and immediately clash. However, their fight was unexpectedly interrupted by a toxic gas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! It's been a while since I've updated, but thank you all for being patient with me thus far!!

Chapter 14: Mukotsu’s Poison  
It didn’t take Kagome long to catch up with the others, and when she finally did, her blood ran cold like ice. The sight she’d encroached upon horrified her, chilling her to the very bone. Deceased bodies of soldiers were strewn about, many slashed and deformed, their blood staining the ground around them. In the center of the massacre, knelt a lone man dressed in violet garments inspecting a small pile of firearms.   
He had dark, brunette hair tied back into a loose and messy ponytail, and he wore light purple clothing along with a dark purple scarf that rested loosely across his shoulders. He appeared to be wearing armor beneath his kimono, and an ominous sword with a silky white hilt was sheathed on his back. Two lilac-colored streaks ran vertically beneath each of his eyes and down his cheeks, coming to a sharp point just above his jaw.  
He lifted one of the many rifles up to study it, meticulously closing one eye to peer down into the barrel of it. “I should bring this back to Renkotsu, I’m sure he’ll have an interest in it.” Kagome could hear him say to himself.  
“Hey!” Inuyasha shouted off to Kagome’s left, nearly startling her out of her skin. “What the hell happened here? Did you do this?” Inuyasha continued to snarl. He had one clawed hand resting on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it should their foe make any sudden move to attack.  
The stranger glanced up at Inuyasha, as if he’d only just realized he had further company. He casually stood and used his glimmering eyes to look Inuyasha up and down, seemingly memorizing every detail and ever visible crevice. Once he’d finished, a bright look lit up his face, and his lips curled up into a lecherous grin.  
“My, you’re very pretty! That man’s descriptions didn’t do you justice!” The man said to Inuyasha. A light blush painted his cheeks as his eyes widened with excitement.  
“Wh-What—?” Inuyasha stammered, a little thrown off by the man’s unusually affectionate behavior. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”  
The stranger cocked his head slightly to the right, a tinge of confusion seeping into his expression. “What do you mean? You are Inuyasha, are you not?”  
Inuyasha growled uneasily. “Alright, buddy,” He gripped Tetsusaiga’s hilt tighter. “I have no clue who you are or how you know my name, but—.” Inuyasha took a step forward, but before he had the chance to unsheathe Tetsusaiga, Miroku stepped in front of him, preventing him from acting too hastily.  
“Tread carefully, Inuyasha.” Miroku’s gaze narrowed as he examined the corpses littered across the ground. “Don’t you see how the bodies of the soldiers have been placed? Something’s not right here.”  
Inuyasha hesitantly heeded Miroku’s warning, and studied the placement of the soldier’s bodies closely. Miroku was right, it was hard to see from their position, but the bodies made a perfect circle around the stranger and his pile of guns. Each body bore injuries resembling that of blades, as deep gashes zig-zagged relentlessly across their bodies.  
How could one man have done all this? Kagome thought, alarmed. Her eyes traveled over to rest on Kouga, who’d remained silent for an unusual amount of time. But the expression she read on Kouga’s face shocked her.  
His strikingly blue eyes were wide, and his dark, bold eyebrows were intensely furrowed and knitted tightly together. His jaw was rigid and his lips curled down into a tight grimace, and his face was twisted with fury. Kouga was livid beyond words. Both his fists were clenched firmly, trembling as the intensity of his anger and strength was beginning to overpower his arm.  
“You bastard…!” Kouga snarled as he took a couple of steps toward the stranger.  
The feminine man glanced curiously at Kouga, recognition soon registering on his face. “Ah, the wolf!” The man grinned. “I’m quite surprised you were able to survive my brother, Suikotsu.” He used one of his long sleeves to cover his mouth, as if stifling a laugh. “It seems you’ve had help, though.”  
Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to Kouga, who was fuming. “Hey, Kouga! Do you know this weirdo?”  
The single moment that came before Kouga’s answer felt excruciatingly long. He was fighting back every instinct in his body that was telling him to attack the stranger. Kouga narrowed his eyes even more, fire in his gaze. “Yeah, I know him.” Kouga said in a low, powerful voice. “He’s one of the guys that took (Y/N)!”  
Before anyone had enough time to react to that sudden news, the man standing amongst the bodies of the dead soldiers, began cackling. His voice was cold, and void of any sort of kindness. “No need, little wolf. I am perfectly capable of introducing myself.” He said after managing to stifle his terrible laughter. “Hello, Inuyasha and others.” He placed both of his hands on either hip, striking a pose. “My name is Jakotsu, slayer of men, and third member of the Band of Seven.” A sinister smile crept onto his lips. “Pleased to meet you.”  
Everybody was silent in the moments that ensued, nobody really knew what to say; and the only person daring to wear a smile was their apparent foe, Jakotsu. But finally, after many more suspenseful seconds, Miroku stepped forward.  
“Jakotsu.” Miroku began. “Our friend, (Y/N), where did you take her?”  
Jakotsu cocked his head to the side, obviously not all too concerned with the situation at hand. “(Y/N)? Oh… Was that that wench’s name?” He laughed through a crude smile. “I did away with her all too long ago to care.”  
“You—!” Kouga almost took a step toward Jakotsu, but before he could finish his sentence or do that, Kagome grabbed him lightly by the arm, stopping him.  
“Please, Kouga.” She looked deep into his eyes, a sort of desperation outlining her pupils. “You’re still injured, you need to save your strength and get better, so don’t waste it on a guy like him.”  
Kouga returned her look. “But—!” Kouga whispered sharply.  
“Please!” Kagome persisted. “This kind of thing won’t help (Y/N).”  
Kouga held Kagome’s gaze for a few moments longer, deeply contemplating the consequences and choices. But soon enough, he hesitantly conceded and tore his eyes from hers. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, happy her feelings seemed to have gotten across. Kouga was doing everything he could to hold himself back, she could tell. But now wasn’t the time to lose his head.  
“That said, Monk,” Jakotsu spoke up once more. “Though not as handsome as Inuyasha, you’re quite sexy yourself.”  
A visible chill ran up both Inuyasha’s and Miroku’s spines. Both were cringing. “Nobody minds if I suck him up… Right?” Miroku rested one hand on his glove and beads suppressing the wind tunnel, his eyebrows furrowed with discomfort.  
“Be my guest.” Inuyasha agreed coldly.  
Jakotsu smirked, earning him various concerned looks from the group. “Not so fast, Monk.” Jakotsu reached into the sleeve of his robe, and pulled out a small, and familiarly uncomforting hive. “See, I’ve heard about your ‘wind tunnel’, so I decided to carry a little bit of insurance with me.” He took the hive and threw it to the side, a swarm of Saimyosho erupting from it like a wave.  
Miroku treaded a step back and clicked his tongue. “Damn…!” He whispered. “Inuyasha, I don’t think I’ll be able to be of assistance under these circumstances.”  
Inuyasha stepped closer to Jakotsu and unsheathed his sword, a flurry of sparks revealing a large, daunting fang with a furry hilt. “Don’t sweat it, just sit this one out. I can take this guy fine, all by myself.” Inuyasha growled, a little on the cocky side. “This whole thing reeks of Naraku, so I’ll be damned if I left him get away with another one of his wretched plans!”  
“Ah, so you’ve met the man then.” Jakotsu smiled curiously. “Tell me, what is he like? I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”  
Hardly giving him enough time to finish speaking, Inuyasha lunged at Jakotsu with a powerful swing of his sword. Jakotsu leapt back, dodging the attack effortlessly; he seemed to be more agile than Inuyasha first expected.  
“My, my.” Jakotsu pouted. “That was quite rude of you, Inuyasha.”  
“Tell it to somebody who’ll care.” Inuyasha spat back.  
A small moment of silent passed as their gazes crossed, until finally Jakotsu reached back to his hilt and unsheathed his own weapon, sighing. “Well, I guess there’s no helping it then.” He pointed his curved blade at Inuyasha, his lips rounded up in a light smirk. “Jakotsuto has been thirsting for more bloodshed anyways.”  
“Hey, mutt!” This time, it was Kouga who called out to Inuyasha. “Be careful of that guy’s sword! It extends and retracts quickly, don’t be fooled by it—!”  
Miroku cupped his chin between his fingers, thinking. “I see, then that would make sense – how the soldiers died so perfectly placed like this.”  
“I see.” Inuyasha stated smugly. “So, the only reason you’re so good is ‘cause you’re cheatin’ a little! You’re not actually so tough.”  
Jakotsu chuckled darkly, his eyes widening and then narrowing to rest on Inuyasha. “We’ll just have to see, about that.”  
With those final words, Jakotsu drew back his sword, and then violently flung it toward Inuyasha. From the original blade sprouted many more, zig-zagging this way and that. Inuyasha jumped sideways and managed to avoid the first strike, but as soon as he’d dodged it, it zagged sharply back toward him, not giving him near enough time to dodge it again.  
“Inuyasha!” A comfortingly familiar voice shouted from above.  
As if on cue, Sango’s weapon, Hiraikotsu, came flying toward Jakotsu’s snake-like weapon, jutting down like a strike of lightning from the sky. Hiraikotsu hit the ground with an ear-shattering boom, Jakotsu’s sword getting tangled up around the boomerang as a result, stopping its path toward Inuyasha.  
Kirara landed nearby Inuyasha, Sango slipping off of her back and landing lightly on her feet. She glanced toward Inuyasha, then narrowed her eyes at Jakotsu.  
“Th-Thanks.” Inuyasha said to Sango.  
She nodded to him. “No problem. What’s going on here?” She motioned to Jakotsu with a shake of her head. “Who is this guy?”  
Inuyasha followed Sango’s example and glared daggers at Jakotsu. “He’s one of the Band of Seven; in other words, he’s one of Naraku’s goons.” He growled.  
“I see.” Sango answered seriously. She looked back toward where Jakotsu stood, but flinched slightly as she noticed him trembling with visible fury.  
He was clenching his teeth, and squeezing his tangled sword’s hilt in his right hand with a grip that looked like it could shatter bone. His face grew redder as his temper grew hotter. “You bitch…!” He heaved his sword with the strength of a monster, tearing Hiraikotsu from its spot in the ground and thrusting it at Sango. “No way a damn woman is gonna interrupt my time with Inuyasha!”  
Hiraikotsu slammed hard into Sango’s side, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying sideways. Luckily though, before she could lethally collide with the ground, Inuyasha caught her by the waist and leapt to safety.  
“This guy’s insane…” Inuyasha mumbled as he placed Sango gently onto the ground.  
Miroku hurried over to their sides, looking over Sango intently. “Sango!” He exclaimed.  
Sango willed one eye to open. “I-I’m fine.” She looked to Inuyasha. “Th-Thank you.” She said hoarsely.  
“Don’t mention it, just sit tight and let me take care of this.” Inuyasha stood back up and turned around to face Jakotsu, who was still fuming on the spot. “Take care of her.” Inuyasha said to Miroku.  
Miroku nodded in response, scooping up Sango into his arms and retreating to a safer spot. Sweat was pooling across her face, Miroku hoped she hadn’t broken anything.  
Jakotsu smirked as Inuyasha’s attention was redirected back to him. He rested a hand on his hip and leaned to the side. “Tell me, Inuyasha. Is that woman in pain?”  
Inuyasha was silent for a moment or two as his face twisted into a scowl. “You… What the hell is your problem?” He snapped, as his golden irises glimmered in the sunlight.  
Jakotsu cackled, his glee chilling the very air around him. His voice was sharp and horrible, his evil intentions plain in the timbre of his tone. “What do you mean? That wench interfered in our time together, she obviously had it coming.” He grimaced and readjusted his footing. “Now then, Inuyasha. What do you say we get back to it?”  
Inuyasha growled, leveling Tetsusaiga at him. Suspense ensued in the lasting moments before anything else happened, each of their gazes cutting through the others’ like a knife. Small beads of sweat dotted Kagome’s face and neck, as she watched the battle from afar by Kouga’s side. She’d thought about trying to move and get to where Sango and Miroku were to treat Sango’s wounds, but if she tried then she’d get too close to Jakotsu, which would risk her life. There was that reason, and then she also couldn’t trust Kouga to be by himself. If she stepped away for too long, he might jump into the battle while she wasn’t looking. Right now, he was a short fuse, so she couldn’t risk him going off.  
Kagome thought Jakotsu’s and Inuyasha’s stare off might have lasted forever, if not for the moments that came after their viciously, locked gazes. Kouga’s and Inuyasha’s heads perked up first before anybody else’s, then Jakotsu, Kagome, and Miroku. Jakotsu gritted his teeth and clicked his tongue.  
“That damn Mukotsu!” He whispered sharply.  
“What is that…smell?” Kagome began to speak a little hoarsely.  
“Hey, Inuyasha!” Jakotsu yelled, grabbing the canine’s attention rather quickly. “You best scram while you can! I can’t have you dying yet!” And with one more look over his shoulder, Jakotsu disappeared, leaving his sword behind.  
“I-Inuyasha…” Miroku stuttered drunkenly.  
When Inuyasha turned around, Miroku was nearly slumped over, holding his head as if fighting a migraine. He was struggling to keep his eyes open, made apparent by the way his eyelids fluttered every couple of seconds. Below him, Sango was already knocked out.  
“I-I think there’s some sort of poisonous gas in the air…” Miroku muttered weakly.  
“Argh!” Inuyasha groaned bitterly. “Damn it!”  
Kagome collapsed, her fall broken by Kouga’s arms. He heaved her up against his chest carefully, a worried look spelled across his face. Her body was limp, and her breathing was shallow.  
“Dog!” Kouga yelled to Inuyasha. “I’ll take Kagome, you get the other two.” Inuyasha nodded, there was no time to argue or fight.  
Whatever was spilling into the air around them wasn’t poisonous to demons, but it was to humans. And whether or not it was fatal, they didn’t want to find out. Inuyasha hurried over to Miroku, just before he too collapsed. He hooked Miroku’s arm across his shoulders, and then picked up Sango by her waist under his left arm.  
“Alright, hold on tight you two.” And with that Inuyasha escaped into the darkness of the trees, alongside Kagome and Kouga.


End file.
